How Russia suffered record losses in Ukraine in 2024

Last year, it was the deadliest for the Russian forces since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine: at least 45 287 people were killed.

This is almost three times more than in the first year of the invasion and significantly exceeds the losses of 2023, when the most long and deadly battle of the war was held in Bakmut.

At the beginning of the war, the losses occurred in waves during battles for key places, but 2024 observed a monthly increase in the death number, as the front line was slowly rotating forward, allowing us to find that Russia had lost at least 27 lives every kilometer of the ubiquitous territory.

The Russian service of the BBC, in collaboration with an independent media outcome of Mediazona and a team of volunteers, processed data with open source from Russian cemeteries, military memorials and obituaries.

So far, we have identified the names of 106 745 Russian soldiers killed during the full -scale invasion of Ukraine.

The real number is obviously much higher. Military experts evaluate our number can cover between 45% and 65% of deaths, which would mean 164 223 to 237 211 people.

February 20, 2024 is the most dead day for Russian forces in 2024.

The victims included Aldar Bayrov, Igor Bade and Ohhundzon Rustamov, who had a 36th rifle brigade, when four long-range Himari Ukrainian rockets hit the city of Volovakha in a occupied Donetsk.

They were ordered to be arranged at a medal ceremony. Sixty -five troops were killed, including their commander Kohl Musayev. Dozens were more injured.

Bayrov, 22 and from Buryatia in Eastern Siberia, had studied as a specialist in food sanitarian, but was prepared for compulsory military service and then signed a contract to become a professional soldier.

In February 2022, he went to fight in Ukraine and was part of the battle for Borodiaka during his brigade’s advance to Kiev in March 2022. The city was almost completely destroyed. Ukrainian sources say Russian soldiers participated in the execution of civilians.

Ohhundzon Rustamov, 31 and from Chita in Siberia, has worked as a welder after serving a mandatory period in special forces. It was mobilized during a partial project in October 2022.

Unlike Rustamov, the 32 -year -old Igor Baych has volunteered to go to war. He worked with adults and children diagnosed with cerebral palsy, helping them with physical therapy until April 2023.

A total of 201 Russian soldiers died that day, according to our data.

A few hours after the training ground, then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met Vladimir Putin to bring him news about military success from the front line.

There was no mention of the training attack, nor was there a word from the Ministry of Defense in his daily reports.

Ohhundzhon Rustamov’s relative said she had already buried three close family members during the war. “In December 2022, my husband died. On February 10, 2024, my godfather. And on February 20, my half -brother. From one funeral to the next.”

In our analysis, we prioritize the exact dates of death for soldiers. If this was not available, we used the date of the funeral or date of the reported death.

During the first two years of the war, 2022 and 2023, the Russian losses followed a wave -like model: heavy fighting with high victims, alternated with periods of relative calm.

In 2023, for example, most casualties occurred between January and March, when Russian forces tried to capture the cities of Wulear and Bacmut in the Donetsk region.

In the first year of full-scale invasion, according to our calculations, Russia lost at least 17,890 soldiers. This number does not include losses from the two proxy forces of Russia in occupied Eastern Ukraine.

In 2023Its number increased to 37 633.

In 2024There was no period showing a significant drop in victims. The bloody battles for Avdiivka and Robotyne were followed by increased attacks on Pokrovsk and Toretsk.

In August 2024, Russian recruits were killed when Ukrainian forces stormed over the border in the Kursk area. Only about 226 Russian soldiers were killed from 6 to 13 August 13.

However, the most serious common losses occurred during slow Russian progress in the east between September and November 2024, according to the leading US military analyst Michael Coffman.

“The tactics emphasized repeated attacks with scattered attack groups using small infantry fire crews that increase common victims to the accumulated terrains,” he explained.

After almost two years of intense fighting, the Russian forces seized the Wulear logistics center in Donetsk on October 1, 2024.

According to estimates by the American Institute of War Study (ISW), from September to November 2024, Russian forces are taking over 2356 square kilometers of Ukraine.

Even then, the Ukrainian forces did not collapse in front.

The price of this advance was at least 11,678 Russian military deaths.

The actual figures of losses are probably higher. We only reported soldiers and officers whose names appeared in publicly available obituaries and whose dates of death or funeral fell during this period.

In general, in 2024, according to ISW, Russia conquered 4168 square kilometers of land. This means that for each square kilometer, 27 Russian soldiers were killed and this does not include the wounded.

Russia has found ways to fill its exhausted forces.

“Russian recruitment also increased in the second half of 2024 and exceeded Russian victims, allowing Moscow to generate additional formations,” says Michael Cofman.

The one -off payments of soldiers signing new contracts have been increased in three Russian regions. The wages for volunteer soldiers are five to seven times higher than the average salary in most regions.

We also qualify as volunteers those who registered to avoid prosecution that was authorized by law in 2024.

Volunteers have become the fastest growing category of victims in our calculations, constituting a quarter of the ones we have identified.

In 2023-2024, thousands of volunteers who signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense were sent to the front lines only 10-14 days later. Such minimal training will dramatically reduce their chances of survival, experts say.

A Russian Republic, Bashtotanstan, watched the largest number of casualties, with 4836 confirmed death. Most were from rural areas, and 38% went to fight without a service service.

The one -off payment for signing a Russian army contract in UFA is 34 times more than the average salary in the region of 67 575 rubles (£ 600).

The calculation of open source deaths will always be incomplete.

This is because the bodies of a significant number of soldiers killed in recent months can still be on the battlefield and their extraction is a risk of servicing soldiers.

The true number of deaths for the Russian forces increases significantly if you include those who have fought against Ukraine as part of the self -proclaimed Donetsk and the People’s Republics of Luhansk.

The evaluation of obituaries and reports of searches for fighters who have lost contact implies between 21,000 and 23,500 people may have been killed by September 2024.

This would lead to the total number of deaths up to 185,000 to 260,700 military officials.