BBC and Mediazona journalists as well as a team of volunteers have studied open sources to identify names of 12,225 Russian service members who were killed in the Ukraine war, including 800 draftees.
Almost 15% (1,627) identified Russians were officers. Moreover, 4 generals and 52 colonels are on the list as well.
“The lion’s share of losses are volunteers, Wagner Group mercenaries (including convicts), and draftees. Together, they make up 25% of the total number of confirmed deaths,” the research notes.
According to the research, the real number of losses can be at least 40-60% higher because journalists only went over open data sources and reports from more than 60 cemeteries in Russia.
Therefore, the most conservative estimate puts Russian losses in the Ukraine war at more than 24,000 people, while the total number of irreplaceable casualties (injured, dead, or missing) can be as high as at least 110,000.