World

Leaked Russian Data Shows At Least 450,000 Deaths in Ukraine War, Including 4,000 Foreign Fighters

By Nils Adler

Records leaked from Rosstat, Russia’s state statistics agency, indicate that at least 450,000 Russians, most of them soldiers, died in the war in Ukraine up to August 2024. The data, obtained by the Belarusian Cyber Partisans and Ukraine’s Silent Crow, also show more than 4,000 foreign citizens died fighting for Russia, from countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Nepal, Colombia and Nigeria. Rosstat confirmed it had been hit by cyberattacks between October 29 and November 1 but said it found no evidence that its databases had been compromised or that protected data leaked. Moscow does not officially publish its military death toll, and deaths can take months or years to be registered in Russia. Investigations for The Financial Times have concluded that once late paperwork is counted, the toll up to August will settle at about 550,000.

The leaked files list about 410,000 deaths directly as war‑related and 42,000 more fighting‑age men whose bodies have never been recovered. The FT identified another 12,000 likely military deaths among men who died at or near the front, bringing the total to at least 450,000. About 120,000 of those with a recorded location died in the area containing Avdiivka and Pokrovsk, and a further 48,000 in Bakhmut.

The average age of those killed rose from 34 in the first year of the war to 40 in 2025, with men aged 35 to 44 making up the largest group, 158,000 dead. Ethnic Russians constitute more than two‑thirds of Russia’s population of 143 million; minorities such as Buryats in Zabaykalsky Krai (12,300 deaths) and Bashkirs and Volga Tatars in Bashkortostan (15,800 deaths) also suffered high casualties.

Foreign fighters accounted for 4,141 probable foreign soldiers holding foreign citizenship among the dead, according to the FT. Bloomberg News, using a wider definition that includes people born outside Russia, counted 11,335 foreign deaths, with foreign deaths rising from about 630 in 2022 to more than 5,500 in 2025. The highest death toll from Uzbekistan was 807, followed by Tajikistan with 598. There were also 44 Nepali dead and 98 Colombians, the highest toll from Latin America. About 340 Africans are among the dead, most of them killed since 2025.

Ukrainian officials believe Russia deployed some 14,000 North Korean troops to hold off Ukraine’s 2024 incursion into the Kursk region, but they do not appear in the leaked data.

Many foreigners are said to be fighting for Russia for money, often after being misled. An estimated 28,000 foreigners from 136 countries are said to be fighting in the Russian army overall. An Amnesty International report in September found that people from Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka and South Africa had been promised well‑paid civilian jobs and then forced into the army on arrival in Russia. The rights group spoke with foreign nationals currently serving with Russian forces and members of their families as well as lawyers, human rights activists and journalists. Nationals from 36 African countries are known to be fighting for Russia in the four‑year war, Ukraine’s foreign minister said in November last year.

The casualty figures suggest that Russia is struggling for manpower. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington‑based think tank, posted an analysis of the leaked data, saying the figures likely understate Russia’s true losses because of reporting limitations. It added that, as of July, Russia’s casualties are now outpacing its recruitment. Kluge told The Moscow Times that the deaths also represent about half a per cent of Russia’s working‑age population, which may have little economic impact, so the main significance is political. He added, “You cannot say Russia is winning this war if it is losing population at this rate.”