Russia-Ukraine war: Leaked data reveals over 400,000 Russian deaths
What's the story
More than 400,000 Russians have died in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine since Moscow's full-scale invasion nearly five years ago. The figures were revealed through leaked data from Russia's state statistics agency Rosstat. The information was obtained by the Belarusian hacker group Cyber Partisans and Ukrainian hacking collective Silent Crow. It includes over 11 million death certificates detailing the age, residence, and place of death of the deceased.
Casualty confirmation
Over 4 lakh deaths in nearly 5 years of invasion
The data shows that 412,576 death certificates directly linked these fatalities to the war. This was either through official cause-of-death codes or written references to combat and military operations.
The figures highlight the staggering human cost of Russia's conflict with Ukraine, which continues despite upcoming peace talks in Abu Dhabi this week.
Losses exposed
Rosstat confirmed hack but denied any sensitive data was obtained
The two hacking groups announced the data breach on November 1 and released the information over the weekend.
Rosstat has confirmed the hack but denied that any sensitive data was obtained.
The dataset provides an unprecedentedly detailed view of Russia's wartime losses, which Moscow has tried to keep secret.
The Russian government hasn't released a death toll since early in the invasion, with military casualties considered state secrets.
Casualty estimates
Figures broadly in line with other estimates of Russian losses
Although the entire dataset has not been independently verified, the figures are broadly in line with other estimates of Russian losses.
British intelligence had estimated that around 500,000 Russian soldiers were killed since the invasion began in September.
The independent Russian outlet Mediazona has named nearly 286,000 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine using official records and social media obituaries.
War impact
Dataset shows unequal burden of war across Russia
The dataset also shows the unequal burden of the war across Russia, with poorer and more remote regions suffering disproportionately heavy losses.
In Buryatia, Tuva, and Zabaykalsky Krai, war-related fatalities made up about a third of all deaths among men aged 18 to 49 between the start of the invasion and mid-2024.
In Moscow and St Petersburg, this figure was only around 10%.
Losses revealed
War-related deaths surpass all Soviet, Russian wars combined
The data also shows a sharp increase in Russian battlefield deaths as the war dragged on, with some of the deadliest months coming in late 2024 and 2025.
The scale of these losses is unprecedented in Russia's modern history.
In less than five years, Russian military deaths in Ukraine have surpassed all Soviet and Russian wars combined since World War II by more than eight times.