By St. Ginth Haokip, Kukiland Express Desk
Updated: April 28, 2026
Russian independent outlet Mediazona, working with the BBC Russian Service, has now confirmed the identities of 213,858 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began. The figure was updated from early April, with 5,103 new names added to the casualty list. The journalists stressed that the real toll is likely significantly higher because their count relies solely on verifiable public sources such as obituaries, posts by relatives, regional media reports, and statements from local authorities.
The breakdown of confirmed deaths shows the scale of Moscow’s reliance on non-regular forces. According to Mediazona, the tally includes more than 79,300 volunteers, 24,000 recruited prisoners, and 18,500 mobilized soldiers. At least 7,043 officers have also been confirmed killed. The data highlights how contract fighters, convicts, and conscripts have borne a substantial share of Russian battlefield losses over the past two years of war.
Despite sustaining heavy casualties, Russia has managed only marginal advances along Ukraine’s front line over the past year, offsetting losses through a steady flow of fresh contract soldiers, analysts note. However, Kyiv asserts that Ukraine’s military has halted Russia’s latest offensive. Ukrainian officials claim their forces captured more territory in February 2026 than Russian forces were able to occupy in the same period, signaling a shift in battlefield momentum after months of grinding attrition.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces estimates Russian losses at around 1,325,650 troops as of April 26, since February 22, 2022. The Ukrainian figure does not distinguish between killed, wounded, missing, or captured, but the overall consensus is that it covers all personnel rendered combat-ineffective. President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this year that Russia was sustaining upwards of 35,000 losses per month at its current rate. The Kyiv Independent noted it cannot independently verify Mediazona’s reporting.
Russian authorities have not released official casualty figures since the start of the full-scale invasion, leaving independent media and foreign governments to track losses through open-source methods. For comparison, President Zelensky said in February that at least 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield since the war began. The widening gap between confirmed names and competing estimates underscores the opaque human cost of the conflict as it moves into its fourth year.
