‘Hidden’ war deaths out of 3,000 per month discovered in Russia

As Russian military casualties in Ukraine increase, with Western figures putting them at over 200,000 killed and wounded, discrepancies are appearing in the official statistics with the country’s death toll.

Every month, Russian registry offices record about 2-3 thousand deaths, which then do not enter Rosstat statistics, calculated demographer Alexey Raksha.

So, in January, Rosstat reported 168.4 thousand. deaths in Russia – 12.7% less than in the same month a year earlier. At the same time, if we focused on the Unified State Register of Civil Status Records (USR ZAGS), this number, according to Raksza, would amount to 170.9 thousand.

This difference occurs every month and always in one direction – Rosstat reports less than the USC data shows – emphasizes the demographer. Moreover, the discrepancy between the numbers became a sign of wartime. “A year or more ago, there wasn’t that much of a difference,” notes Raksha.

The “hidden” mortality rate, which is seen by the registry offices, but not by Rosstat, is close to the number of confirmed losses of the Russian army in Ukraine: the list, which, according to social media reports and official statements, is maintained by Mediazona and the BBC, is powered by 3,500-4,000 . people per month.

The real figure could be between 7,000 and 9,000 a month, Raksha estimates.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation gave official estimates of the number of dead only twice during the entire war – on September 21, it was 5,937 people. Sources of the New Gazette. Europe’ said that these figures are based on commanders’ reports, while a significant number of deaths are largely unrecorded: the dead are listed as missing.

The British Ministry of Defense estimated the death toll in mid-February at 40,000-60,000. people, including fighters from PKW Wagner, whose number by the end of last year reached 50,000.

Including the wounded and captured, the irretrievable losses of the Russian army reach 200-250 thousand people, more than in all wars since World War II combined, experts from the American Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) calculated.

According to them, the average monthly losses in Ukraine are at least 25 times higher than the number of killed per month in Chechnya and 35 times higher than in Afghanistan.

After the end of World War II, most of the Russian soldiers died in Afghanistan (14-16 thousand), Chechnya (12-25 thousand), and before the full invasion of Ukraine during the fighting in the Donbass (6 thousand-7 thousand), writes CSIS.