Russia's elite units face mounting losses in Ukraine conflict
The Russian BBC service, together with Mediazona, has confirmed the deaths of over 6,000 soldiers from elite Russian units in Ukraine. These figures account for losses since the beginning of the war, and the number of casualties is constantly increasing.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, more than 6,000 soldiers from elite Russian units have died. This information was provided by the Russian BBC service, which, along with Mediazona and a team of volunteers, is gathering information.
Elite units suffered the greatest losses at the start of the conflict. By September 2022, the deaths of 900 soldiers were confirmed, and by early 2025, this number had risen to 6,083.
Identified more than 88,000 of Putin's soldiers
The analysis only covered professional military personnel from the airborne forces, naval infantry, special forces units of the Ministry of Defence, the Russian Guard, and military pilots. Altogether, based on publicly available data, the names of 88,055 Russian soldiers who died during the attack on Ukraine have been identified.
The BBC and Mediazona team uses open sources, such as obituaries, press texts, and cemetery records, to confirm the deaths. This data shows the scale of losses suffered by elite Russian units in the ongoing conflict.
Observers assess that Ukrainians continue to defend themselves, becoming an increasingly active party. Russian reserves are insufficient to break through this resistance.
