Around 120,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the Ukraine war began in 2022, according to a joint investigation by independent media outlets Mediazona and Meduza published on Friday. This updated figure is an estimate based on Russia’s registry of inheritance cases.

The report says the true toll likely lies between 106,000 and 140,000 deaths. It far exceeds a separate count by Mediazona and BBC Russian Service of 58,207 Russian combat deaths, which is probably an underestimate, as it only includes publicly identified deceased soldiers. “Since the beginning of the year, the Russian army’s losses have increased by 39,000 people.

The average number of fatalities is increasing: previously, about 120 people died per day; now it is 200 to 250 people,” Mediazona wrote on Telegram. As Russia has not since 2022 released official statistics about the number of soldiers killed, volunteers from Mediazona and Meduza relied on open sources to make their estimates. The Ukrainian government also keeps its military losses secret, making the overall level of casualties from Russia’s invasion ambiguous.Casualties from Russia-backed separatist forces in Donetsk and Luhansk are not included in Mediazona's estimate.