The true cost of Russia’s war

Why the Kremlin won’t let the families of dead soldiers mourn

A year ago, the Russian authorities announced the mobilisation of the country’s military reserve. This marked a turning point in the invasion of Ukraine when the war came out of the television into Russians’ homes. Soon, many soldiers began returning from the battle front — in zinc coffins.

In terms of its death toll this war has already overtaken the combined total of all of Russia’s other military conflicts since World War II. It has also affected every part of the country, in some cases costing families the lives of more than one of its members. Despite this, the Russian military has not given any official figures on the dead and injured for over a year.

Novaya-Europe has collected and compared reports of deaths and casualties published by reputable sources. We then compared these numbers with the losses suffered by Russia in other wars since WWII.

Find out what we discovered on YouTube:

Our special project, the Mortal Regiment, delves deeper into why the Kremlin has forbidden families of soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine to mourn.