15,000 East Slavs Have Been Killed in This War So Far

Opposition journalists working for BBC Russian have compiled a list of 2120 Russian soldiers who have died so far. The list is mainly compiled by combining announcements by regional governments. And some by obituaries in the local media and on social media if they explicitly state that the deceased fell in Ukraine. The list does not include Russian dead in Ukraine described in obituaries as volunteers.

2120 is an undercount because only some regions announce military deaths of their residents in a timely fashion, and some never do.

The 1635 military deaths figure for Donetsk Republic is much more reliable being an official figure that is updated weekly by the Republic’s official Human Rights Ombudsman.

I estimate military deaths on the Russian-led side to be between 5000 and 8000. Broken down as 1635 Donetsk deaths, 600 to 1000 Lugansk deaths, and 2700 to 5300 Russian deaths. The point estimate I would offer is 6000.

I reason that Lugansk deaths must be somewhat lower than Donetsk deaths, since the Lugansk military is 25-30% smaller and since the fighting in Lugansk was a little easier.

I reason that Russian deaths must be greater than the Donetsk and Lugansk deaths combined since there are so many more Russians participating.

The maneuver elements which take the brunt of the casualties are composed of perhaps 80K Russian troops, 20K Donetsk troops, and 15K Lugansk troops.

Thus the Russians suffering up to twice as many dead as Donbass fighters is not unthinkable. (Albeit privately I think that a ratio of 1.5 Russian deaths to 1 Donbass is more likely so far. This on the account of reports that Donetsk and Lugansk were at one point trucking untrained mobilized amateurs to the front with predictable consequences.)

The UN for its part offers up the figure of 3,381 civilian deaths so far.

At one point Zelensky estimated 2500 to 3000 Ukrainian military deaths. This was likely an underestimate since he has an incentive to downplay the number for reasons of morale. Plus this was on April 15 which was 25 days ago on the 50th day of the war.

Taking his numbers and multiplying by 1.5 (assuming the fighting the in the last 25 days was as tough as in the first 50) would net the range of 3750 to 4500, but this would likely be an undercount.

Ukrainian military deaths in my estimation are higher than those of the other side but not radically so. The Russian side has more artillery firepower and barracks-leveling cruise missiles, but the Ukrainians have the benefit of fighting on defense.

I would guestimate Ukrainian military deaths at 6000 to 10000. Point guestimate would be 7000.

Combined the war dead in Ukraine is certainly over 10K, it is likely at least 15K, and possibly over 20K.

Virtually all the dead are East Slavs of a shared Rus’ ancestry.

The Ukraine War is now a bigger fratricidal butchery than the Donbass War which had killed 14K.

6 Comments
  1. Anonymous says

    Very, very sad. But then this is what Westerners do, and what they have always done: bribe, coerce, or otherwise convince brother to set about killing his brother. Korea, Viet Nam, the Balkans, the Middle East – the list is very long.

    The most disgusting element are the hired killers from the West under arms, killing Slavs. Canadians, Americans, British, chiefly. They were threatened by no one in the region, and know nothing about the people, their history, or their culture. But no matter, killing Slavs is “an adventure” for them – murder for fun and fiat money. These lowlifes are human waste, personified.

    1. ken says

      “Very, very sad. But then this is what Westerners do, and what they have always done: bribe, coerce, or otherwise convince brother to set about killing his brother”

      You forgot the very first example. The US Northern invasion of the Confederate States in the South. 600,000 dead,,, raped and killed their way to the Gulf of Mexico.

      As for this article…….Highlights are not exactly verifiable….

      I estimate
      The point estimate I would offer
      I think that a ratio of
      I would guestimate
      Point guestimate would
      I reason that
      Thus the Russians suffering up to twice as many dead as Donbass fighters is not unthinkable

    2. Michael P Dougherty says

      Yes, Orientals never do this. Japanese vs. Chinese, Pol Pot, Burma butchering their own, religious wars in India/Pakistan etc.

  2. Geraldo says

    “I would guestimate Ukrainian military deaths at 6000 to 10000. Point guestimate would be 7000.”

    Losses in Donbass for the Ukraines are running at around 500 per day KIA. I would say 3000 per week KIA with added wounded, surrendered, missing. This is certainly true for the last 2 weeks, using a mix of Ukraines own internal figures, which Russia has access to and also counting from individual accounts of many actions taking place on the ground. I have been allowing for some overlap as some figures are qouted twice due to initial and official figures for individual actions and missile strikes. Ok, we’re in the fog of war and official figures can be a bit flakey on both sides but I think these figures are shared by others broadly speaking. One thing is clear; the Donbass will be horific in terms of casualties for the Ukraine.

  3. yourname says

    What a way to liberate the Slavs of New Russia ! First exterminate the male population, then replace them. (the piece-of-garbage Rasputin-preacher is OK with that)

    One of the problem with the casualty numbers is that no one from Moscow and Muscovy is dying. All the dead (of the Army of Russia) are from far-away places.

  4. Noah says

    There is no real consistent conclusion regarding your article, just not so subtle misguidance. You just point to the fact that brothers are killing each other, you do not offer any background, you estimate that the number of people killed in Donbass from 2014 was surpassed by the one related to Russian invasion / special operation, so the only conclusion is that… I was looking to the collection of your articles (not what you have reposted from other authors), and there’s no much reference to the Nazi groups in Ukraine. I think you’re on a payroll “anti-bla’bla”.

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