Nearly 1.8 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, wounded, or gone missing during the almost four-year-long war in Ukraine, according to a new study by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as reported by The New York Times.
The study estimates that since February 2022, approximately 325,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, while the total number of Russian and Ukrainian casualties has reached nearly 1.8 million. Ukrainian forces are estimated to have suffered between 100,000 and 140,000 casualties, highlighting the immense burden borne by a smaller army facing Russia’s numerical superiority.
The study notes that no major power since World War II has suffered such heavy losses over such a short period of time.
In 2025 alone, around 415,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded, averaging approximately 35,000 casualties per month.
Despite these severe losses, Russia has managed to sustain its military strength through its first mass mobilization since World War II, the recruitment of prisoners, and the use of financial incentives to attract new soldiers. Estimates suggest that around 15,000 North Korean troops fought alongside Russian forces, with at least several hundred believed to have been killed.
Due to limited access to official data and Russia’s systematic underreporting of casualties, the authors of the study relied on estimates from the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as other available sources.
