©Max Kukurudziak via Unsplash
It is reported that 14 times more Russian soldiers have been killed than Ukrainian forces in the war that Vladimir Putin started against Ukraine.
In an interview with Fox News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky provided new estimates of military casualties on both sides of the war. According to him, approximately 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and about 400,000 wounded. In addition , a large number remain missing. “I don’t want to be too open, because then Russia will understand what’s happening to our army,” Zelensky said.
For Russia, he cited much higher figures: a total of around 1.6 million military casualties, including approximately 700,000 deaths. That amounts to a ratio in which, according to him, Russian deaths are fourteen times higher than Ukrainian ones.
These figures differ from earlier statements and independent estimates. In February, Zelensky had stated that at least 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed. In a recent study, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated Russian losses between February 2022 and June 2026 at 1.4 million casualties, with up to 450,000 deaths. For Ukraine, CSIS estimated 525,000–625,000 casualties, including 125,000–150,000 deaths. Combined, both sides would have suffered more than 2 million military casualties.
The exact extent of the losses remains difficult to determine; neither Ukraine nor Russia publishes complete figures. Both sides withhold much information for operational reasons, while families and independent sources often report different numbers. Nevertheless, the new figures underscore the enormous human cost of the war, as fighting continues unabated in 2026 and monthly casualties remain high, according to analysts.
©Max Kukurudziak via Unsplash - illustrative image