Russian Army to Lose 650,000 Killed by End of Year — FT
The total number of Russians killed as a result of the war in Ukraine reached about 550,000 by August. This is evidenced by a Financial Times analysis of Rosstat data obtained by hackers. According to the newspaper's calculations, if the death rates observed in January persist throughout the year, the death toll will reach 650,000 by the end of December, Agentstvo reports .
The body of a Russian soldier lies in a forest in Trostyanets, Ukraine. March 28, 2022. Photo: Felipe Dana / AP
Rosstat data recorded about 410,000 deaths directly related to the war, FT writes. The newspaper's journalists identified another 12,000 people based on their military status, age, and place of death. The journalists also accounted for 42,000 deaths of military-age men mentioned in Rosstat data based on court rulings when relatives could not find the bodies.
At the same time, the real death toll is likely higher due to delays in registering deaths, the newspaper writes. For example, in 2026, the registration of documents for people who died during the battle for Mariupol in 2022 was still ongoing.
Rosstat data shows particularly high mortality in certain battles in Ukraine. About 120,000 deaths—a third of the total registered—occurred in the area of Avdiivka and Pokrovsk. Another 48,000 occurred in the neighboring Bakhmut district.
The battles for each of these cities were alone bloodier than the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979–1989, journalists note.
Rosstat information also indicates that over the war years, the Russian army has aged. In 2025, the average age of those killed was 40, compared to 34 in the first year of the war.
The largest group was men aged 35–44, accounting for 158,000 deaths. Men aged 18–24 accounted for about 10% of those killed; their share has been decreasing since the start of the war.
FT also found records in Rosstat data of 4,141 deceased foreigners who fought as part of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Most of them are citizens of Uzbekistan (807 people) and Tajikistan (598). Among Latin American countries, Colombia leads (98 dead). In Africa, the highest number of deaths was recorded among citizens of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Egypt—127 people in total. The database also lists 44 dead citizens of Nepal, 20 citizens of Bangladesh, and 10 citizens of India.
The hack also made it possible to assess the scale of mortality from coronavirus in Russia. In 2021, according to these data, about 457,000 Russians died from COVID-19. This means that mortality from coronavirus in Russia turned out to be 2.5–3 times higher than in the UK and European Union countries.
Also, since 2021, about 85,000 people have died in Russia from HIV-related diseases, including 14,000 in 2025, the newspaper writes. For comparison, in North America, Western, and Central Europe, the total number of deaths from the same causes in 2025 was less than 10,000.
The hacking groups Silent Crow and Cyber Partisans BY reported the breach of Rosstat on November 1. According to the hackers, they managed to obtain about 23 terabytes of information. Rosstat acknowledged the cyberattack, but denied that the attackers gained access to protected data.
Based on these data, The Economist projected the deaths of about 230,000 Russians throughout 2026—more than in any previous year of the war. The publication also cited Silent Crow's estimate of 504,000 dead Russian servicemen as of August 28, taking registration delays into account.