BBC and Mediaphone confirm deaths of more than 43,000 Russian soldiers since the beginning of full-scale aggression
Kyiv • UNN
BBC and Mediaphone journalists have confirmed more than 43,000 deaths of Russian military personnel since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Journalists from Mediaphone and the BBC Russian Service, together with a team of volunteers, have confirmed the deaths of 43,460 Russian soldiers who took part in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UNN reports .
Details
Over the past two weeks, since January 19, 1176 names have been added to the list of those killed, 15 of them with the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher.
In particular, the journalists added to the list of dead the commander of the A-50 long-range radar reconnaissance aircraft, Vyacheslav Levchenko. The plane was shot down over the Sea of Azov on January 14, and the Russian Defense Ministry has not confirmed the loss of the aircraft.
In its report, Mediaport also drew attention to a column by CIA chief William Burns, in which he estimated Russian losses at 315,000 people. The journalists consider his estimate "close to reality.
After a year and a half of observations, we realized that about half of all military deaths can be identified from open sources. This figure is suitable for a very rough and approximate estimate: 43,000 obituaries found yield approximately 80-90,000 real deaths. This means that the remaining 230,000 are wounded, which also looks more than realistic given the number of deaths
The researchers are counting from open sources - reports from local administrations, the media and relatives of the victims, as well as data from cemeteries. The publication emphasizes that the number thus obtained does not reflect the real level of losses.
Ukraine and Russia do not disclose casualties in the war, only enemy losses are reported.
