New data has revealed that nearly 50,000 Russian soldiers have reportedly been killed in the country’s campaign against Ukraine.
In collaboration with data scientist Dmitry Kobak from Tübingen University in Germany, independent Russian news outlets Mediazona and Meduza conducted an analysis of Russian mortality data and inheritance records to determine “excess mortality” among men under age 50, according to the Associated Press.
Excess mortality is a statistical principle that looks at mortality data comparatively.
Analysis revealed that 25,000 more inheritance cases were opened for males aged 15 to 49 at the National Probate Registry in 2022 than expected based on data from as late as 2014.
This excess grew to 47,000 as of May 27, 2023.
Mediazona and the BBC’s Russian Service have also joined to create a database of confirmed Russian soldier deaths.
With the help of a network of volunteers, they have been scouring social media and photographs of Russian cemeteries to gather data and paint an even more comprehensive portrait of military casualties.
This initiative reportedly confirmed the deaths of 27,423 Russian soldiers as of July 7.
“These are only soldiers who we know by name, and their deaths in each case are verified by multiple sources,” explained Dmitry Treshchanin, an editor at Mediazona, according to AP.
“The estimate we did with Meduza allows us to see the ‘hidden’ deaths, deaths the Russian government is so obsessively and unsuccessfully trying to hide,” he claimed.
According to the Kremlin, the official tally of Russia’s military casualties hits just over 6,000.
As previously covered in The Dallas Express, reports of heavy losses among Russian forces have circulated on Telegram channels. Some videos of Russian soldiers have even emerged in which they spoke of using blocking units at the frontline in eastern Ukraine.
The independent analysis uncovered figures of Russian military casualties that match more or less with U.S. and UK intelligence assessments — with a slight discrepancy in total deaths, as intelligence reports suggested more. However, there remains a great deal of uncertainty.
“Even if they have sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense, its own data could be incomplete,” explained Mediazona’s Treshchanin, per AP.
“It’s extremely difficult to pull together all of the casualties from the army, Rosgvardia, Akhmat battalion, various private military companies, of which Wagner is the largest, but not the only one. Casualties among inmates, first recruited by Wagner and now by the MoD, are also a very hazy subject, with a lot of potential for manipulation,” he continued.
Moreover, Russian soldiers who are missing in action and Ukrainian citizens fighting for the Russians are not officially counted in the estimate of 47,000.
When questioned about the study by AP, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the reported numbers, stating that only the Defense Ministry had the authority to do so.