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How Many Russian Troops Have Died in Ukraine?

Soldiers with the Ukrainian army’s 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade train with a DShK 12 mm machine gun during their training cycle at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center near Yavoriv, Ukraine on Sept. 6. Yavoriv CTC Observer Coach Trainers, along with mentors from the Polish army and the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, led the training for soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade during the battalion's rotation through the Yavoriv CTC. The 45th is deployed to Ukraine as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine, an international coalition dedicated to improving the CTC's training capacity and building professionalism within the Ukrainian army. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Eric McDonough, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team)
Soldiers with the Ukrainian army’s 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade train with a DShK 12 mm machine gun during their training cycle at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center near Yavoriv, Ukraine on Sept. 6. Yavoriv CTC Observer Coach Trainers, along with mentors from the Polish army and the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, led the training for soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade during the battalion's rotation through the Yavoriv CTC. The 45th is deployed to Ukraine as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine, an international coalition dedicated to improving the CTC's training capacity and building professionalism within the Ukrainian army. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Eric McDonough, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team)

Ukraine Killed 106 Russians in Donbas On Monday – According to Ukraine’s Operational and Tactical Group “East,” 106 Russian troops were killed in the eastern Donbas region on Monday as fighting intensifies.

It comes as Russia reportedly made “marginal gains” near the city of Severodonetsk, as part of the Kremlin’s mission to “liberate” the separatist region from Ukraine.

In a Facebook post, the Ukrainian military unit said that several Russian armored vehicles, ammunition supplies, and weapons were destroyed in combat on Monday as part of an effort to limit Russia’s gains in the region.

“Ukrainian defenders continue to restrain the aggressor in the area of responsibility of the operational-tactical group “East,” the post reads, before listing the total enemy losses for June 20.

According to the post, two warehouses were destroyed, along with two UAVs, five mortars, two artillery systems, and one tank.

Just How Many Russian Troops Have Died?

The exact number of Russian troops lost in the conflict is unlikely to ever be known, but estimates put the number potentially well above 30,000.

“Russia will never disclose the actual numbers of forces killed Ukraine,” explained Harry J. Kazianis, President and CEO of the Rogue States Project and an expert on Russian military tactics and strategy. “But we do know that Putin’s armed forces will be depleted for at least a decade or more as Moscow never dreamed the war would still be waged for nearly four months.”

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, approximately 33,800 troops have been lost in almost four months.

In an update shared on June 19, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also said that 1,477 tanks have been lost, along with 3,588 combat armored machines, 98 anti-aircraft warfare systems, and 181 helicopters.

“The opponent suffered the biggest losses in the Bakhmutsky and Zaporizhzhia directions. / Russian enemy suffered the greatest losses (of the past day) at the Bahmut and Zaporizhzhia direction,” the post continues.

A June 20 report from Russia’s iStories also estimated that Russia has lost 2-4% of all of its personnel in the last four months.

“A minimum estimate of 2% can be obtained if you focus on the data that was voiced at the end of May by British intelligence – 15 thousand dead,” the Russian language outlet reported.

“According to them, Russia’s losses for three months in Ukraine are comparable to the losses of the USSR during the ten-year war in Afghanistan, and exceed the losses for two wars in Chechnya, which, according to official data, amounted to more than 11 thousand people.”

iStories used the data from the Ukrainian General Staff to estimate that more than 33,000 troops could have been lost.

StarStreak Ukraine

StarStreak MANPAD headed to Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The Kremlin, however, is not quite as forthcoming when it comes to providing accurate data on military losses. The last time the Russian government updated its tally of military deaths was on March 25, barely more than a month since the invasion began. At the time, Russia claimed to have lost 1,351 soldiers.

In June, State Duma deputy Andrew Kartopolov defended the lack of transparency, claiming that the figures had not been updated because the Russian military had “pretty much stopped losing people.”

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

Written By

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive's Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

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