Figures apparently taken from Russia’s state statistics agency Rosstat indicate that more than 450,000 persons fighting on Russia’s side in the war against Ukraine may have been killed since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The estimates were provided by hacker organisations Belarusian Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow, who say they have accessed sensitive government records, including more than 11 million death certificates and related data.
Between 24 February 2022 and late August 2026, 393,881 deaths were connected to the war, according to the Belarusian Cyber Partisans. The researchers based this estimate on death certificates that mentioned war operations or their aftermath.
But Silent Crow reported a greater figure of 450,100 deaths based on a broader methodology. The calculation also included non-combat deaths of military members, deaths recorded in seized Ukrainian territory and other cases which are regarded potentially related to the conflict.
The claimed files are said to contain details about the deceased like their ages, residence addresses and places of death.
The findings provide a rare glimpse into the human cost of Russia’s military effort, particularly given President Vladimir Putin’s government has mainly refused to release detailed data of its losses on the battlefield.
Russia last officially released military casualty data in September 2022, when Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 Russian servicemen had died.
But the new numbers are unverified. Rosstat has denied that its records were hacked, while independent journalists and researchers are investigating the evidence released by the hacker gangs.
The Moscow Times said it compared a sample of 50 names from an existing database compiled by BBC Russian and Mediazona with the hacked details, but could not independently verify the complete list.
The BBC and Mediazona had identified 285,881 Russian military casualties by Nov. 6, however their analysis also says the actual figure is likely higher.
The leaked data do not include all wounded soldiers, missing personnel and foreign fighters whose deaths may not have been recorded in Russia’s civil records.
The discovery comes as the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, continues to exact a severe human toll on both sides with no comprehensive settlement in sight.
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