Since the beginning of 2023, the losses of the Russian occupiers in the war in Ukraine have increased, especially among prisoners who were recruited to the "Wagner" PMC and thrown to the front.

This year, at least 1,000 people who were supposed to serve their sentences in Russian prisons died.

This was reported by the Russian BBC service, which, together with the publication "Mediazon" and a team of volunteers, established the names of the dead Russian soldiers in Ukraine on the basis of open data on burials in cemeteries in 65 cities of Russia.

As of mid-March, it was possible to confirm the death of 17,375 Russian soldiers.

A third of these losses are those who were not connected with the army before the beginning of the invasion - volunteers, mobilized, prisoners.

The publication suggests that this number may be at least half the actual number of Russian soldiers buried in Russia.

According to the most conservative estimate, during the invasion of Ukraine, Russia could lose about 35 thousand dead.

Based on the U.S. Center for Naval Analysis' observations that for every Russian soldier killed in the war in Ukraine, there were an average of about three and a half wounded, Russia's total irreversible losses (i.e., the number of those disabled by injury or death or missing) may amount to at least 157,500 people.

This number does not include those who fought on the side of Russia as part of the "people's militia" of the occupation authorities of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

It will be recalled that Russia's losses in the war against Ukraine reached unprecedented figures in a year.

They exceeded the total losses in all armed conflicts in which the Soviet and Russian armies participated since 1945. 

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• Ukraine news

• War in Ukraine

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