Journalists confirmed the death of more than 38 thousand Russians during the war in Ukraine

During the ongoing full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, no fewer than 38,261 Russian servicemen died. This figure is given by the journalists of the Russian Service of the BBC, who, together with “Mediazona” and a group of volunteers, conduct a calculation of losses based on open sources.

According to investigators, over the past two weeks, from November 17 to December 1, 1,200 names were added to the list of the dead. Journalists claim that the real figures are even higher, because they do not have time to process all the incoming information. They associate the increase in the number of dead with active combat operations at the front. They note that since the beginning of November, a large number of obituaries have appeared, in which the place of death is indicated in the Avdeevka district near Donetsk. Also, information about the dead in the Kherson region, where fighting is going on on the islands of the Dnieper and near the village of Krynki, has become more frequent.

The Russian service of the BBC and “Mediazon” keep a count of the number of dead since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. They use only open data: official documents, messages from officials and mass media, publications of close relatives, and data from cemeteries. Journalists warn that these data are far from complete. They include only the dead whose names and places of burial have been established.

• Russia and Ukraine do not disclose war losses. The Ministry of Defense of Russia last reported on the total number of casualties on September 21 last year, announcing the death of 5,937 people. A relatively independent assessment of Ukrainian losses was last given in the spring. Then in the documents leaked online, supposedly containing the data of American intelligence, it was reported that Washington estimated the losses of the Ukrainian army at 15.5–17.5 thousand people killed and 109–113 thousand wounded.