The number of Russian soldiers killed in Russia's war against Ukraine is estimated to be between 374,000 and 770,000. Such estimates were made public on Friday, October 30, in an article by The Economist magazine about Russia's strikes against Ukraine. According to the publication's calculations, the total number of victims, including the wounded, is between 1.4 million and 2.1 million.
The Economist points out that Russia is losing many more soldiers than Ukraine. And he cites for comparison the data of the UALosses website, according to which the number of victims in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces is 116,000. Another 106,000 have been declared missing without a trace.
Since the beginning of 2026, over 56,000 drones have been launched against Ukraine
The Economist also points out in its publication that, according to data from the Ukrainian Air Force, since the beginning of the year Russia has launched over 56,000 drones against Ukraine - this is 35% more than during the same period in 2025. The number of missile strikes has increased by 22% and reached 1,766.
The publication also points out that in October, Ukraine intensified its strikes against Russia in depth, which caused discontent in the administration of US President Donald Trump.
BBC admits over 500,000 Russian casualties
On October 30, journalists from the BBC Russian Service, from "Mediazona" and a team of volunteers reported that the number of Russian soldiers killed during the war in Ukraine as of October 30, 2026 had probably exceeded 500,000. At the same time, 285,023 names of deceased servicemen from the Russian Armed Forces are known.
The share of deceased servicemen from the Russian Federation, whose names have been confirmed by publicly available sources, probably amounts to 45 to 55 percent of the real number of deaths in the Russian army, which, according to military experts, could be between 518,224 and 663,384 people, the BBC notes.
If we add to these figures the number of fighters in the units of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR) and "Luhansk People's Republic" (LPR), which is estimated at between 21,000 and 23,500 people, as well as 2,304 identified names of killed North Korean soldiers, then the total losses of pro-Russian forces could vary in the range of 541,528 to 689,188 servicemen.
Difficulties in calculations
The difficulties in calculating the number of dead Russian military personnel are largely related to the fact that far from all information about their deaths is publicly available.
Journalists from "Mediazona" and the BBC Russian Service, together with a team of volunteers, have been keeping track of reports of dead Russian military personnel published in the media, social networks, and on the websites of state bodies since the first day of Russia's war against Ukraine, which began in February 2022.