Russia suffers 1.5 million casualties in Ukraine for 2% ground gain
Russian combat casualties in Ukraine have surpassed 1.5 million personnel killed and wounded since February 2022, according to reports released by the Ukrainian military and British defence intelligence.
The assessments indicate that nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers have died in action, marking Moscow's heaviest military toll in a single conflict since World War II.
Unprecedented battlefield attrition
Data compiled by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shows that total Russian casualties reached approximately 1,500,870 troops by September 9, 2026. Ukrainian military officials noted that this toll is 100 times higher than Soviet losses during the decade-long war in Afghanistan and exceeds officially admitted Russian fatalities in the First and Second Chechen Wars by 125 times.
Ukrainian reports also record extensive Russian materiel losses, including 12,352 tanks, 25,357 armoured fighting vehicles, 50,011 artillery systems, 2,143 multiple-launch rocket systems, 1,657 air defence systems, 442 aircraft, 356 helicopters, 2,672 unmanned ground vehicles, 35 warships and boats, and two submarines.
Independent research underscores the broader toll of the conflict. A study by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), cited by The New York Times, estimated that combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties have surpassed two million personnel across more than four years of fighting.
The CSIS analysis estimated that Russia has suffered 1.4 million casualties, including 450,000 killed—surpassing all combined United States combat fatalities in conflicts since 1945 by fourfold. The study placed Ukrainian military casualties between 525,000 and 625,000, with estimated deaths ranging between 125,000 and 150,000.
Heavy human cost for marginal gains
The head of the UK Armed Forces, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, confirmed British intelligence estimates projecting total Russian casualties at 1.5 million since the February 2022 full-scale invasion.
Most Russian casualties occurred after January 2023, while yielding territorial gains of barely 2% of Ukrainian land during the same period, Knighton noted.
“I believe these figures clearly illustrate the senseless and futile waste of human life for such meager progress, and against such an illegitimate objective of President Vladimir Putin,” Knighton said in remarks to Sky News.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
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