Approximately 70,000 combatants from Russia’s armed forces have now lost their lives in Ukraine, as per data examined by the BBC.
Furthermore, since Russia’s full-scale invasion started in 2022, the number of civilians killed on the battlefield has increased, with volunteers—citizens who enlisted after the war—making up the majority of casualties for the first time.
Every day, obituaries, photos from funerals, and the names of people who lost their lives in Ukraine are shared on social media and in the media throughout Russia.
These names have been compiled by the independent website Mediazona and BBC Russian, in addition to names from other public sources such as government reports.
We verified that the data had been provided by law enforcement or the deceased’s family, and that they had been
Of them, 13,781 (or around 20%) were volunteers, and the number of deaths among volunteers currently outpaces that of other groups. Previously the largest group, ex-offenders who joined in exchange for being pardoned for their crimes now make up 19% of all confirmed deaths. Thirteen percent are mobilised soldiers, or people called up to battle.
Volunteer fatalities have not dropped below 100 per week since October of last year; in fact, there have been weeks when the number of volunteer deaths has exceeded 310.
Regarding Ukraine, it seldom ever discusses the number of its combat fatalities. Volodymyr Zelensky, the country’s president, said in February that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died, however figures derived from US intelligence point to higher casualties.
Rinat Khusniyarov’s tale is representative of many of the volunteer
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