(FILES) An unidentified soldier’s body lies near a burning Russian Armoured personnel carrier (APC) during fighting with the Ukrainian armed forces in Kharkiv, on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Sergey BOBOK / AFP)
Ukraine’s state project “I Want to Live” has released what it says are official Russian military loss statistics for the first eight months of 2025.
According to the obtained data, Russia lost 281,550 personnel between January and August, including those killed, wounded, and missing in action. The report describes the scale of casualties as comparable to Soviet losses in major World War II offensives.
The project “I Want to Live” [Хочу жить] was set up by Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) and is aimed at helping Russian soldiers to safely surrender to the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) and save their lives.
Out of the total, 86,744 Russian soldiers were killed, including 1,583 officers and 8,633 convicts recruited from prisons. Another 33,966 were listed as missing, while 158,529 were wounded, and 2,311 were captured by Ukrainian forces.
Equipment losses were equally severe: 13,145 units destroyed beyond repair, and 48,458 more damaged but potentially restorable. On average, Russia lost 35,000 soldiers and 7,700 pieces of equipment every month, including 1,643 irrecoverably destroyed.
“Every day, the Russian army loses an average of one battalion in killed and missing personnel – 496 people,” the report said, adding that seven full brigades are effectively wiped out every month.
The data reveal a critical failure in battlefield medical evacuation: for every soldier killed, only 1.3 are reported wounded – a ratio far worse than standard military averages. Project says this points to the lack of tactical medicine training and the tendency of Russian units to abandon the wounded on the battlefield.
“Modern Russian generals have pointlessly sacrificed 120,000 people, but have been unable to capture Pokrovsk for several years,” the authors said.
The highest casualties were recorded in the Central Grouping of Forces, which includes the 2nd and 51st Combined Arms Armies.
- The 2nd Army, commanded by Ramil Ibatullin, lost 15,310 soldiers killed and 16,260 wounded, including its heavily depleted 27th, 15th, and 30th motorized rifle brigades.
- The 51st Army, under Sergey Milchakov, suffered 13,000 killed and 14,201 wounded, with massive equipment losses totaling 1,642 units destroyed.
- The 1st Tank Army of the “Western” grouping followed with 9,987 killed and 11,411 wounded.
- Elite airborne units (VDV) also took heavy hits: 2,272 killed or missing and 3,191 wounded.
The project noted that Russia’s Ministry of Defense has not publicly updated its casualty figures since March 25, 2022, when it last drastically understated losses.
“The Kremlin continues to conceal the real cost of war from its citizens,” I Want to Live said.
“But sooner or later, the Russian people will have to confront the truth – that over a million of their soldiers have been killed, wounded, or gone missing since February 2022…“This is the price of Putin’s rule and his support by the Russian people.”
Last month, over 128,000 Russian soldiers had been confirmed dead in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began, according to a joint investigation by the BBC Russian Service, Mediazona, and a network of volunteers.
As of early September, the team had identified 128,115 dead Russian soldiers by name. Between June and August alone, journalists recorded 23,305 new obituaries, with up to 420 new death notices per day – nearly triple the 2024 average.
The BBC noted that these figures represent only a portion of total losses, as reports often reach families with delays and require verification. The investigation also found that 14% of the identified dead were prisoners recruited from penal colonies, while 29% were volunteer fighters.
kyivpost
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