Verified Russian Deaths in Ukraine War Exceed 200K, Independent Tally Shows - The Moscow Times
Moscow Times
February 24, 2026
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The independent tally of Russian deaths in the Ukraine war has surpassed 200,000, marking a significant milestone in understanding the human toll of the conflict. This figure, compiled by journalists at BBC Russian and Mediazona, represents a conservative estimate based on verified open-source records like obituaries and court documents. The tally highlights that over 57% of those killed were volunteer fighters, mobilized soldiers, or inmates from prisons. As of now, journalists are still processing data for 2025, which is expected to be the deadliest year of the war with preliminary estimates suggesting over 90,000 Russian soldiers may have been killed last year alone.
The regions hardest hit by these losses include Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Sverdlovsk, which account for around 9,300, 7,500, and 6,700 deaths respectively. Even Moscow, despite its large population, has seen nearly 3,200 soldiers killed in the war, while the surrounding Moscow region ranks seventh with almost 5,500 fatalities. This contrasts sharply with Russia’s last official death toll reported in September 2022 by former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, which stated that only 6,000 soldiers had been killed since the start of the invasion.
The Kremlin has consistently dismissed independent estimates, such as those from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which suggested over 325,000 Russian soldiers were killed between February 2022 and December 2025, with an additional 875,000 wounded or missing. Meanwhile, the UN has verified nearly 15,
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Originally published on Moscow Times on 2/24/2026