Newly appointed Chairman of Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov revealed the death toll among the space corporation employees due to participation in the so-called SVO — russian nickname for the war against Ukraine.
"342 of our comrades got injured in combat missions, and 105 our colleagues deceased or gone missing," Bakanov mentioned, speaking at the Cosmonautics Day concert in Moscow on April 12, as quoted by russian Kremlin-affiliated media outlets.
Read more: "Peaceful Atom" Operator Rosatom Makes Khrizantema-S and Other ATGMs For russia
Roscosmos chief also said over a thousand space industry specialists were directly involved in the war. Their positions and roles in the war zone were not explicitly stated but he pointed out the importance of the agency's satellite systems that supply the russian armed forces with real-time intelligence. One of the employees named was Artur Potapov, a special forces fighter serving in russian Airborne Troops.
Earlier, RUSI explored Roscosmos' role in the russian defense-industrial complex in depth. Officially a space research institution on par with NASA and the European Space Agency, Roscosmos has a long-standing history of cooperating with the defense industry. Particularly, as a legitimate contractor of defense orders, including production of various ballistic and cruise missiles for national Strategic Nuclear Forces, missile fuel, launchers, and even artillery systems. Defense Express repeatedly touched on the topic, too.
Incidentally, according to Holos Kryma, Dmitry Bakanov replaced the ex-chairman Yuri Borisov on February 6, 2025, after a corruption scandal around the Khrunichev National Space Center construction, a Roscosmos project marred by significant delays.
Read more: Billions in Federal Funding Are Flowing into Missile Development, Exposing Roscosmos’ Role in russia’s Military-Industrial Complex
