Mediazona confirms identities of almost 36,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
Through open-source research, the Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, together with BBC Russia, confirmed on Nov. 3 the names of 35,780 Russian soldiers who have been killed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The journalists specify that the actual figures are likely considerably higher since the information they have verified so far comes from public sources, including obituaries, posts by relatives, news in regional media, and reports by local authorities.
Since the last update on Oct. 21, the names of 923 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine were added to the list.
Although Mediazona expected a significant increase in the figures due to heavy fighting in Avdiivka, the Nov. 3 tally did not reflect that. "the death toll is far from the one in Bakhmut," the report said. However, as Mediazona works only with publicly available information, it does not necessarily mean that there have not been high casualties in Avdiivka, which has been a particularly destructive battle by many accounts.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Oct. 28 that Russian losses in the battle for Avdiivka could be more than 4,000.
Casualties from other notable events recently were also added, such as losses in the attack on the naval repair docks in occupied Sevastopol, and the deaths of two officers that could be related to the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) strike on Oct. 17 that marked its first use on the battlefield.
Since the last update, three names were added to the list who had the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher.
In total, the news outlet was able to confirm the deaths of 2,700 officers, with 310 holding the rank of lieutenant colonel or above.
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