Record high death toll in Russia-Ukraine war: What you need to know | Russia-Ukraine war News

The war in Ukraine, a conflict that continues to escalate, has worsened, with civilian casualties this summer reaching the highest level since 2022.

Just how many people have been killed in the war since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022?

Here’s what we know:

How many people have died in the war?

Last month, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing intelligence and undisclosed sources, reported a grim milestone, reporting that nearly a million Ukrainians and Russians had been killed or wounded.

Most of the dead were soldiers from both sides, followed by Ukrainian civilians.

According to government statistics, in the first half of 2024, the number of people dying in Ukraine is three times higher than the number of births, WSJ reports.

At the same time, experts have warned of a bleak future for the Ukrainian people.

The shrinking population is one of the reasons why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to enlist men aged 18-25, as most of them do not have children yet, according to Ukrainian officials. The ideal age range for the Ukrainian army is between 25 and 60 years.

How many citizens?

Figures vary.

In June, Ukrainian officials said “Russian invaders” had killed more than 12,000 people, including 551 children.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reported in February that as the war reached the two-year mark, more than 10,200 civilians were confirmed killed, and nearly 20,000 injured.

The London-based charity Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) reported that 7,001 people have been killed in Ukraine since September 23, with more than 20,000 injured.

About 95 percent of casualties occurred in densely populated areas, with Donetsk region the worst affected, AOAV said.

But these figures are very low estimates as the charity only records “case-specific figures” reported in the English-language media, it added.

Last month, the NRC reported that this summer Ukraine marked the highest three-month number of murders since 2022.

More than 3,200 people were injured and died in Ukraine between June and August this year – an increase of 33.7 percent compared to the same period last year, the NRC said.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) also documented a significant increase in deaths and injuries over the summer.

The attack on the government-controlled area from August 26 to September 6 killed 64 people and injured 392.

In August alone, 184 civilians were killed and 856 injured, which is the second highest monthly casualty figure of the year after July, when at least 219 civilians were killed and 1,018 injured.

Why did the victims of Ukraine increase in the summer?

Joachim Giaminardi, the head of the NRC in Ukraine, told Al Jazeera that the conflict has escalated.

“We are seeing an increase in conflict, both geographically and in terms of the frequency and intensity of attacks,” Giaminardi said. “The people who pay the price are the citizens.”

Danielle Bell, the head of the HRMMU, said in a statement last month that “powerful missiles and bombs hit populated areas, killing and injuring civilians across the country”.

“Targeted attacks on power infrastructure in Ukraine have also caused prolonged blackouts across the country while recent attacks have destroyed or damaged hospitals, schools, supermarkets and critical power infrastructure.”

Were Russian citizens killed?

Yes, but Russia has lost far fewer deaths than Ukraine.

Russian citizens have been killed in border areas between the wars.

Moscow did not release an official number of casualties.

Media outlets, some linked to the state, sometimes report on deaths.

Last August, the Moscow Times, citing independent news site 7×7, said 80 civilians had been killed since the attack began. Two months ago, the Kremlin-aligned TASS reported that 31 people were killed when Ukraine stormed Kursk.

How many Russian and Ukrainian soldiers were killed?

The death toll cannot be confirmed. More on that later. Let’s start with what was reported.

More than 71,000 Russian soldiers have been identified and confirmed killed in Ukraine, according to a late September report by Russia’s independent agency Mediazona.

Using open source research, Mediazona has been documenting the names of Russian soldiers killed, verifying information through funerals, posts by relatives, statements from local authorities and other public reports.

Leaked US documents suggest that more Russian soldiers were killed than previously thought.

In July, the Economist reported that between 462,000 and 728,000 Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded or captured by mid-June, citing US Defense Department documents.

“Russia’s losses in Ukraine from 2022 exceed the number of casualties in all its wars since the second world war combined,” reports the Economist, referring to the wars in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Ukraine from 2014 until February 2022.

According to the General Staff of Ukraine, as of October 1, more than 654,000 Russian workers have died.

As for the Ukrainian military, the Russian Ministry of Defense estimates that Kyiv has lost almost half a million men, according to a report published last month by the RT news website.

However, according to Western estimates, about 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since February 2022.

In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that Ukraine’s losses were five times higher than Russia’s, with Kyiv losing at least 50,000 workers a month.

Both Russia and Ukraine are facing labor problems.

A Ukrainian army commander quoted by the Reuters news agency estimated that only 60-70 percent of the thousands of soldiers at the beginning of the war were still active. Others were killed, wounded or signed due to old age or illness.

Why is it so difficult to ascertain the number of deaths?

Marina Miron, a researcher at the Department of Military Studies at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that governments do not publicly report their casualties to avoid giving the enemy information about how successful their operations have been.

For example, during World War II, each side underreported its casualties by half and exaggerated enemy casualties by two to three times, he said.

A death is only confirmed when the body is found, and the relevant defense minister then sends a death notification to the family. But many bodies are still not found and classified as MIA (missing in action). They could be army defectors or taken prisoners, said Miron.

If the government does not officially recognize a soldier as dead, it can avoid the obligation to pay the families of the dead, which has become a problem in Russia and Ukraine, he added.

As for non-state actors, such as Russia’s Wagner Group, their casualties are not included in the available figures.

What’s next for Ukraine?

Miron told Al Jazeera that he does not see war as sustainable in Ukraine, which faces many problems: a shortage of troops, a struggling economy, and its dependence on Western aid.

“Ukraine has no real strategy, and neither does NATO,” he said.

Although the Russians use their equipment, Ukraine does not have enough soldiers capable of using Western weapons systems; training takes time. Training 20 pilots to operate F-16 fighters took more than a year, he said.

“Russia will have enough resources to move forward with the couple [of] more years. Ukraine does not have that time, neither does NATO because NATO itself is facing a shortage of air defense systems,” said Miron, adding that Ukraine is not a priority for policy makers as the crisis in the Middle East worsens.

As Ukraine stalls, officials are looking for a solution to end the war, which could include Russia.

“Russia can support this [war]but Ukraine cannot,” he said.