Russian journalists confirm the deaths of at least 49,281 Russian invaders in Ukraine

@ElentirENG ES 3·30·2024 · 7:02 0

While the Kremlin continues to hide the numbers of Russian casualties (dead and wounded) in the invasion of Ukraine, these data come to light.

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This number multiplies by 3.4 the Soviet deaths in Afghanistan in 10 years

Yesterday, the Mediazona website, formed by Russian journalists opposed to the Putin regime, updated data from a large study done in collaboration with the Russian edition of BBC News. This report has documented and confirmed the deaths of 49,281 Russian invaders in Ukraine, a figure that only indicates those deaths that have been known through public information. The real death toll estimated by Mediazona would be around 85,000.

To give us an idea of the disaster this means for Russia in two years of war, the USSR had 14,453 deaths in Afghanistan in ten years, a war that ended with a Soviet defeat. The confirmed deaths of Russian invaders in Ukraine in two years multiplied by 3.4 the Soviet deaths in that war in a decade. If the estimate of 85,000 deaths were correct, then the disaster in Afghanistan would be multiplying by 5.8 in Ukraine.

A number obtained from publicly available sources

Mediazona explains the methodology of this report:

The numbers provided are derived from publicly available sources, such as social media posts by family members, local news reports, and official announcements from regional authorities. However, it is important to note that these figures offer only a partial picture and do not encompass the full scope of the casualties.

To address this, we present an additional figure alongside the count of named death records. This second number is an estimate of excess mortality among men, derived from the Probate Registry database. The methodology for this estimate was developed in partnership with Meduza.

Meduza is another group of Russian journalists opposed to Putin who carry out their work from Riga, Latvia. As we saw a few days ago, in 2023 Meduza uncovered the recruitment of ISIS terrorists by the FSB, Russia's main intelligence service.

The regions of origin of the invaders killed in Ukraine

In the information updated yesterday, Mediazona offers detailed data on the origin of those Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, including their geographical distribution. In the following graph published by that website we can see the death toll in each region of Russia:

The disparity in figures is striking: 513 deaths in Moscow and 491 deaths in Saint Petersburg (the two main cities of the country, with a large majority of ethnic Russians and with a population with a higher standard of living) and much higher figures in peripheral areas, poorer, less populated and with other ethnicities: 1,881 from Kuban (a region of the Caucasus in the eastern part of the Black Sea), 1,723 deaths from Bashkiria (a Russian republic in the Urals with a majority Bashkir population), 1,637 deaths from Yekaterinburg (a large city in the Urals) and 1,381 deaths from Chelyabinsk (an oblast of the Urals). In addition, the Mediazona study has documented the deaths of 199 foreigners who fought in the invading army.

The largest group of dead among the invaders is made up of inmates

In addition, Mediazona publishes this another active graph (detailed data can be seen at the Mediazona site) in which it shows the casualties among the different military groups (the outer gray circle shows the deaths of officers):

The data on deaths for each group included in the graph are as follows (the first number indicates the total number of casualties and in parentheses they indicate how many of them were officers):

• Inmates: 8,887 (14 officers).
• Volunteers: 6,434 (254 officers).
• Mobilized: 5,908 (263 officers).
• Motorized rifles: 3,732 (680 officers).
• PMC (Wagner Group): 2,834 (39 officers).
• Airborne forces: 2,546 (437 officers).
• Other troops: 1,367 (365 officers). This group includes: Navy: 236 dead; Engineers: 234 dead; Signal corps: 158 dead; FSB: 74 dead; other troops: 665 dead.
• Marines: 962 (140 officers).
• Tankers: 830 (205 officers).
• Artillery: 740 (184 officers).
• Special corps: 584 (120 officers).
• National Guard: 547 (136 officers).
• Military pilots: 214 (182 officers).
• No data: 13,696 (310 officers).

The ages of Russian invaders killed in Ukraine

Finally, Mediazona shows this graph that indicates the age groups of those 49,281 Russian invaders killed in Ukraine:

The group with the most deaths (5,157) is 33-35 years old. It is also the group with the most casualties among prisoners (1,034) and among recruits (798). Among the volunteers, the group with the most deaths (654) is 42-44 years old. One thing that draws a lot of attention about this graph is the data that appears among the groups with the least casualties: 1,326 deaths from 18-20 years old, 122 deaths from 60-62 years old, 48 deaths from 63-65 years old, 12 deaths from 66-68 years old and 5 deaths from 69-71 years old.

It is terrible to think that more than 1,300 young Russians between 18 and 20 years old have died due to a war ordered and provoked by a 71-year-old man, which is the age of Vladimir Putin, and it is frankly surprising to see that Russia is enlisting pensioners up to 71 years old in its army. All this to satisfy the dreams of conquest of a man who dreams of resurrecting the old Russian empire (or the old Soviet superpower), sacrificing 85,000 Russians to do so.

The civilian deaths in this invasion are already more than 10,000

But the most terrible thing is not that invaders die in an invasion: the most terrible thing is that these invaders are very often committing horrific atrocities against the Ukrainian people, including deportations, ill-treatment, torture and murder. of civilians. Russian war crimes include the murders of Ukrainian prisoners. Yesterday the Ukrainian government denounced that this winter Russia has murdered at least 32 Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to UN data.

On the other hand, civilians killed in the Russian invasion already exceed the 10,000. Although Russian propagandists try to blame this on Ukraine for not wanting to surrender to Russia, this invasion and the deaths it is causing has only one culprit, which is the invading country: Russia, and specifically its dictator, Vladimir Putin.

Messages aimed at ending this war that do not include any criticism of the invading country or that aim for Russia to obtain some benefit from this invasion are, in reality, messages to justify the invaders and try to make the aggression against Ukraine and the crimes committed against the Ukrainian people profitable for them.

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Main photo: Eyepress News.