Ukraine war briefing: Nearly 2 million military casualties to date, study finds, with Russia bearing brunt of losses

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused nearly 2 million military casualties killed, wounded or missing between the two countries, according to a study published on Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US thinktank. Moscow's forces have borne the brunt of the losses, with as many as 325,000 killed out of an estimated total of 1.2 million casualties since the war began nearly four years ago."

"Ukrainian forces have also suffered major losses between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties, of which between 100,000 and 140,000 were killed from February 2022 to December 2025. Combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties may be as high as 1.8 million and could reach two million total casualties by the spring of 2026, the thinktank said. UN monitors say civilian casualties have reached almost 15,000 verified deaths since 2022 but that the actual total is likely considerably higher."

"Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told NBC in February 2025 that his country had lost nearly 46,000 troops since 2022, with tens of thousands missing or taken prisoner, numbers which analysts consider an underestimate. Russian losses remain a closely guarded state secret, with the last official figures from the Ministry of Defence released in September 2022 putting the toll at 5,937, according to Agence France-Presse. The BBC's Russian service and the Mediazona outlet, which rely on publicly available data such as death notices, have identified more than 163,000 Russian soldiers killed in four years of war, while acknowledging that the actual number is likely higher."

Nearly two million military personnel have been killed, wounded or gone missing in the Russia–Ukraine war, with estimates aggregating casualties from both sides. Russian forces have endured the largest share, with up to 325,000 killed and roughly 1.2 million total Russian casualties estimated since early 2022. Ukrainian forces have suffered between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties, including 100,000–140,000 killed through December 2025. Combined casualties could reach two million by spring 2026. UN monitors have verified almost 15,000 civilian deaths since 2022 but consider true civilian fatalities substantially higher. Official Russian military death counts remain undisclosed, while independent tallies indicate much higher losses. A recent Russian drone strike on a passenger train in Kharkiv killed five people.

Read at www.theguardian.com