The US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine in one year of war exceeded those recorded in all the wars in which the Soviet or Russian military participated since World War II.

According to CSIS estimates, total Russian losses in Ukraine in dead and wounded amount to to 200,000 to 250,000. Of these, 60-70 thousand were killed, including not only regular troops, but also Wagner mercenaries, members of the Russian special services and militias of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

The Ukrainian General Staff’s figures for Russian casualties are much higher – in the order of 150,000.

In times of war, the BBC cannot quickly verify information from warring parties and third parties.
However, even the most modest figures cited by CSIS show that Russia is suffering the highest casualties in the history of conflicts since 1945.

According to official data, 14,000-16,000 Soviet soldiers died in Afghanistan12,000-25,000 Russian soldiers died in the two wars in Chechnya and 6,000-7,000 in Donbas before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, CSIS writes in its report.

The document also shows that the rate of casualties in Ukraine far exceeds the situation in other conflicts.

In Chechnya, for example, the Russian army had 95-185 deaths per month, in Afghanistan 130-145 and in Ukraine 5,000-5,800 deaths per month.

According to CSIS analysts, the Russian administration made a series of serious miscalculations that led, among other things, to such high losses of its personnel.

The start of the war itself was unexpectedly difficult for the Kremlin, which did not expect resistance from either the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the civilian population.

Russia then decided to go into a war of attrition, betting on its arsenal and estimating that Western supplies would sooner or later stop. However, supplies have not only not stopped, but they have outmatched the Russian arsenal in quality and efficiency, the report says.

Within a year, the BBC, MediaZona (which Russian authorities believe is behind foreign agents) and a group of volunteers identified more than 15,000 Russian soldiers who have died in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. This is only a fraction of the total losses. And it is higher than the official figures of the authorities.