The figures exceed Soviet and Russian losses in all wars and armed conflicts since the second half of the 20th century. Russian casualties in the war in Ukraine have “crossed the 1.5 million mark”, according to the latest figures from Ukraine’s General Staff. The figures, which have not been independently verified, would, if confirmed, come as a bloody milestone in Russia’s war on Ukraine. According to the General Staff, Russia’s total combat losses since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, from February 24, 2022, to September 9, 2026, stood at 1,500,870 personnel, including 1,480 over the past 24 hours. Russia hiding real death toll In a statement posted on Telegram, the Staff said that the total was the “price of aggression the Russian Federation is trying to hide.” “This is 100 times more than the USSR's losses in Afghanistan over 10 years," the General Staff continued, adding that it was “125 times more than the officially recognized losses of Russian troops in the First and Second Chechen Wars.” Ukraine also said that Russia in the last 24 hours had lost eight tanks and five armored combat vehicles, bringing Russia’s estimated cumulative losses to 12,338 tanks and 25,290 armored combat vehicles. "Behind every recorded Russian loss is a specific occupier who came to Ukrainian soil with a weapon, as well as the titanic, daily joint work of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and the entire Ukrainian people," the General Staff added.
A Ukrainian serviceman seen during the exhumation of killed Russian soldiers near Kharkiv, May 2022. (AP/Andrii Marienko)
