This finding comes from a BBC investigation based on open russian sources and cemetery data.
According to the report, russian outlets published 40% more soldier obituaries in 2025 compared to the same period last year. This increase occurred amid intensified negotiations over a potential peace plan, conducted under pressure from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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Overall, BBC journalists, working alongside the outlet Mediazona and volunteer researchers, have confirmed the identities of nearly 160,000 russians killed while fighting against Ukraine. The count has been conducted since February 2022 and is based on official announcements, media reports, social media posts, as well as data from cemeteries and military memorials.
At the same time, experts emphasize that the actual losses are significantly higher. According to their estimates, confirmed cases may account for only 45–65% of the total number of fatalities. Based on this methodology, russia's real losses in the war against Ukraine could range from 243,000 to 352,000 killed.
The dynamics of obituary publications in 2025 also point to an intensification of combat operations. After relatively low figures in January, the number of obituaries began to rise in February, following the first direct talks between Donald Trump and russian dictator vladimir putin on ending the war. Another peak was recorded in August. In October and November, amid the collapse of a summit and the presentation of a U.S. peace proposal, an average of 322 obituaries per day were published—twice as many as in 2024.
The BBC also notes a shift in the composition of those killed. Most russians who died in 2025 had no prior military experience at the start of the full-scale invasion. After the battles for Avdiivka in late 2023, losses among so-called "volunteers", individuals who signed contracts during the war, increased sharply. While they accounted for about 15% of fatalities last year, in 2025 they made up roughly one in three of those killed.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that around 25,000 russian soldiers are killed each month, indicating an extremely high mortality rate within the russian armed forces.
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