As peace negotiations continue-and despite pressure on the Trump administration too influence a resolution-the human cost of the war in Ukraine continues to mount. A BBC News Russia investigation, conducted in collaboration with Mediazona, has confirmed the deaths of nearly 160,000 Russian military personnel as the full-scale invasion began in Febuary 2022, with reported deaths in 2025 alone increasing by 40% year-on-year. This report details not only the escalating toll but also the changing demographics of those being sent to the front lines-including a convicted criminal who ultimately died in battle after initially rejecting a military contract.
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- Autor, Olga Ivshina
- Título del autor, Servicio Ruso de BBC News
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Tiempo de lectura: 6 min
Russian losses in the war with Ukraine have accelerated over the past ten months at a rate not seen since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, according to a new analysis.
Reported deaths of Russian soldiers increased by 40% year-on-year in 2025, coinciding with intensified peace efforts amid pressure from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In total, the analysis has confirmed the names of nearly 160,000 Russian military personnel killed fighting in Ukraine.
The Russian service of the BBC has been tracking Moscow’s war losses in collaboration with the independent media outlet Mediazona and a team of volunteers since February 2022.
The project compiled a list of identified individuals whose deaths have been verified through official reports, news publications, social media, war memorials, and grave sites.
The Numbers
The actual number of fatalities is believed to be significantly higher, with military experts consulted for the analysis estimating that the confirmed figures represent between 45% and 65% of the total.
This would place the total number of Russian deaths between 243,000 and 352,000.
The number of reported deaths in a given period serves as a preliminary estimate of confirmed losses, as some cases require further verification and may ultimately be excluded.
However, it can indicate how the intensity of fighting fluctuates over time.
Fuente de la imagen, Getty Images
2025 began with a relatively low number of reported deaths in January, compared to previous months. The number increased in February, as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke directly for the first time about ending the war in Ukraine.
A subsequent peak in August coincided with the two presidents’ meeting in Alaska, a diplomatic success for Putin widely seen as ending his international isolation.
In October, when a second planned summit between Russia and the United States was ultimately canceled, and then in November, when the U.S. presented a 28-point peace proposal, an average of 322 deaths were reported per day – double the 2024 average.
Attributing the increase in Russian losses to a single factor is difficult, but the Kremlin views territorial gains as a way to influence negotiations with the United States in its favor; Putin advisor Yuri Ushakov recently emphasized that “recent successes” had a positive impact.
The Case of Mukashev
Murat Mukashev was one of those who had hoped for a swift peace agreement, and it ultimately cost him his life. He was an activist who had never supported the policies of Vladimir Putin.
Over the years, he had participated in demonstrations against police violence and torture, and joined rallies in support of LGBTQ+ rights and the release of Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s leading opposition figure who died in prison in 2024.
Fuente de la imagen, Murat Mukashev
He had repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on social media since 2022. In early 2024, Mukashev was detained near his home in Moscow and charged with large-scale drug trafficking.
While his case was being heard, he was offered a contract with the Ministry of Defense, according to friends and family.
They believed the serious charges brought against him were a common tactic to coerce people into military service. A 2024 law allows defendants to avoid criminal conviction if they enlist to fight – an attractive option in a country with a less than 1% acquittal rate.
Mukashev rejected the offer and was sentenced to 10 years in a high-security penal colony.
While incarcerated, in November 2024, he changed his mind. Friends said promises of a quick end to the war by Trump encouraged him, and he decided he needed to enlist as soon as possible to secure his release before a peace deal was reached.
“He saw this as an opportunity to be released rather than spend 10 years in prison under a strict regime,” a statement from his support group said.
It was unclear how he reconciled his participation in the war with his stated reluctance to kill.
On June 11, 2025, Mukashev died fighting as part of an assault squad in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine.
Like him, most of the Russians killed on the front lines in 2025 had no prior military affiliation at the start of the full-scale war, according to the data.
But since the bloody battle for the city of Avdiivka in October 2023, there has been a steady increase in casualties among so-called “volunteers.”
Those who volunteered from the beginning of the invasion appear to now make up the majority of new Russian recruits, as opposed to professional soldiers who had joined the army before the invasion or those mobilized for military service afterward.
A year ago, 15% of Russian military deaths were volunteers, but in 2025 the proportion is one in three.
Fuente de la imagen, Reuters
How Russia Replenishes Its Forces
Local governments, pressured to maintain a steady flow of new recruits, are offering substantial financial incentives, targeting individuals with significant debts, and conducting recruitment drives at universities and vocational training centers.
This has allowed the Kremlin to offset the heavy losses at the front lines while avoiding the politically risky step of a large-scale compulsory mobilization.
According to Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, 336,000 people had enlisted in the army between January and October – more than 30,000 per month.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that 25,000 Russian soldiers are dying each month. If both figures are accurate, Russia is still recruiting more soldiers than it is losing.
According to obituaries and testimonies from family members, most of those who have volunteered to fight did so willingly. However, there are reports of pressure and coercion, particularly on regular conscripts and those accused of criminal offenses.
Some recruits mistakenly believe that after a year of service, they will be able to return to their previous lives with money in their pockets.
A new recruit can earn up to 10 million rubles (approximately $128,000) in a year.
In reality, all contracts signed with the Ministry of Defense since September 2022 are automatically renewed until the end of the war.
According to NATO, the total number of Russian killed and wounded in the war is 1.1 million, with one official estimating 250,000 deaths.
This aligns with the BBC’s calculations, although our list does not include those killed serving in the militias of two occupied regions in eastern Ukraine, which we estimate to be between 21,000 and 23,500 fighters.
Ukraine has also suffered significant losses.
In February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put the number of battlefield deaths at 46,000 and the number of wounded at 380,000.
Tens of thousands more are missing or in captivity, he added.
Based on other estimates and comparisons of data, we believe the number of Ukrainian deaths to date is 140,000.
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