The death of Russian soldiers is a taboo subject in Russia. Recently, blogger Andriy Morozov appears to have committed suicide after being forced to delete a post about Russia’s heavy losses during the capture of Avdiyivka. During the two years of the war, the number of casualties did not decrease.

The Meduza publication, which represents the independent Russian press, calculated, using data from the statistical service, from the register of heirs and the list of confirmed dead soldiers prepared by Mediazon and the Russian Air Force, how many Russian soldiers died at the front in Ukraine. . Based on this data, Meduza estimated that approximately 75,000 militants would have died between the start of the invasion and December 2023.

“This is not an exact number, but a statistical estimate – the most likely value in a fairly wide range from 66,000 to 88,000. Our method does not allow us to “see” Russian losses in recent months (which also includes Avdiyka-nr), but the total number of losses for all two years of the war will be about 83,000 soldiers, if the pace of the fourth quarter of 2023 (about 3.9 thousand people per month) in January and February of 2024 remained unchanged,” states Meduza.

According to the cited source, the greatest losses were recorded during the battle for Bakhmut in January-March 2023. According to the publication, during this period up to 2,000 people were killed every week, and most of these fighters were ex-convicts recruited from prison.

According to “Meduza” calculations, out of 75 thousand dead, 16 thousand will be conscripts, mobilized, in addition to contract workers and former prisoners.

The death rate would be 120 Russian soldiers per day for the last six months, Meduza also writes.

More than 17,000 people died in the battle for Adviyka – Ukrainian estimates

The exact number of dead among Russians mobilized in Ukraine is not mentioned by any of the parties. Ukrainian, American, and British estimates speak of “losses,” that is, of killed or wounded combatants.

Kremlin forces have lost 407,240 soldiers since the start of the Russia-initiated war, according to the latest Ukrainian military assessment released on Thursday.

Ukrainians claim that the Russians lost more than 47,000 soldiers in the battle for Avdiivka alone. “Our estimates show that from October 10 to February 17, they lost more than 47,000 soldiers in just those four months of the offensive. Of them, more than 17,000 died in the battles,” said Ukrainian Ambassador to Romania Ihor Prokopchuk in a press conference, in which HotNews.ro also participated.

Russia has not presented an estimate of its own losses on the Ukrainian front.

Last December, a declassified U.S. intelligence report estimated that Russia had lost 315,000 soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, roughly 87% of the forces engaged in the war at the start of the conflict.

What is the “life expectancy” at the front

An independent study published last fall found that Russian soldiers mobilized to fight in Ukraine were dying, on average, only a few months after joining Moscow’s armed forces.

Investigation of the Russian site Important Stories and analysts of the Conflict Intelligence Team.

The results of the investigation show that the average life expectancy of Russian soldiers from the moment of mobilization to the moment of their murder is 4 and a half months.