Russia’s statistics agency omits data from annual reports to cover up war deaths

The Russian State Statistics Service did not include the total number of deaths from external causes in its annual report, independent Russian media outlet Meduza reported on July 16, citing demographics expert Alexei Raksha.

The statistics service takes into account deaths caused by external factors such as road accidents, murder and suicide, not by disease. Analysts and journalists have used this data to extrapolate the number of Russian soldiers killed in the invasion of Ukraine. However, the Kremlin refuses to disclose this figure.

Meduza, in collaboration with independent media outlet Mediazona and electoral statistics researcher Dmitry Kobak, uses data from the Russian Statistics Service to calculate Russian military losses. According to their latest estimate, excess mortality among men in 2023 is almost twice as high as in 2022.

In addition, studies based on inheritance registry data provide an estimate of the actual number of deaths. This estimate suggests that about 120,000 Russian servicemen have died in the war since 2022, with a margin of error ranging from 106,000 to 140,000.

In February, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that 180,000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the start of the all-out war, while over 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had lost their lives in the same period.

Western officials have given similar estimates of Russian losses on the battlefield. In June, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said said that at least 350,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded.

While Russian losses in Ukraine reach the 500,000 mark, Putin is burying future demographic risks in his own country

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, over half a million Russian soldiers were killed or wounded during the 27-month war in Ukraine. This horrifying figure is in line with estimates by Britain and France, which stated in early May that total Russian losses amounted to