A new independent statistical analysis has found nearly 50,000 Russian men have died in the war in Ukraine, a figure nearly nine times larger than the Russian government is reporting in the conflict, which has lasted more than 500 days.
While Russia has publicly acknowledged the deaths of just over 6,000 soldiers, two independent Russian media outlets, Mediazona and Meduza, working with a data scientist from Germany’s Tübingen University, found the true human cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is up to at least 47,000 as of May 2023.
The first independent review also puts the death total well under Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry’s official tally, which claims Russia has lost about 234,000 troops in the war, as of July 10. In May 2023, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported approximately 207,000 Russian troop deaths.