BBC research reveals 50,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine | BBC News

What is the true cost to Russia in Blood on the battlefield of Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine? An investigation by the BBC together with the independent Russian website Zona

reveals

that more than 50,000 Russian

soldiers

have

died

so far in the war. The Kremlin's official figure is a lot. In reality, the dead on both sides accumulate overnight. A Russian missile attack killed several people in the northern Ukrainian city of Chiv. More than 70 people were injured. Meanwhile, President Zalinski has again called for Ukraine to get the same international military support as Israel's lawmakers. The United States has confirmed that they will soon vote on a massive aid package, more on Russia's dead in a moment, but first, James Waterhouse is live for us tonight.

James Clive, there is nothing new about Russia launching widespread missile attacks against Ukraine, but there are some disturbing familiarities where Moscow is once again targeting the country's energy infrastructure and is also seeking to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses with massive strikes. With missiles and drones, there are also differences in terms of how Ukraine can defend itself after a missile attack. Today in the city of Chiv, President Zalinski sees it not only as a devastating attack, but as a symbol of the exhaustion of Western support. Bus passengers die for cover after two missiles hit nearby. Without warning, Russia tried and failed to take this city, but with its border only 60 miles away, the skies bring a constant threat.

The force of the explosion did this to Anastasia's house. It will be too cold to spend the night here. I

have

two children, so I will go to the neighbors and then we will repair this, but I don't know if it makes sense at this stage of Our Lives, a recovery routine familiar to Ukrainians is followed, there is no way to escape the Russian invasion and then to see Western allies unite behind Israel. Their leader wants the same for his country. Allies have shown in the Middle East what they can really do when there is enough determination.

Ukraine is increasingly fighting this war on its own, its chances of victory have become more remote and instead planning to free everyone. his territory Kev is calculating how much of it could be conceded to Russia President Zalinski is being more frank about the chances of losing in an attempt to restore a much-needed sense of urgency. NATO continues to conduct maritime and air exercises throughout its territory in Eastern Europe. its members continue to promise military aid. We have just had an important and timely debate on how to further intensify our support for Ukraine, in particular on how to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine, because the situation on the battlefield remains very difficult and we have all heard the clear call. and urgent from Ukraine for more support.

What is really waiting is a £49 billion package to be passed in the US Congress after months of delay and to be voted on this weekend, if passed Ukraine could do so. more than waiting if the conversation does not work can move on to compromise or defeat James Water House BBC News Kev well, there has always been global skepticism about the official count of Russian war deaths given by the Kremlin and an independent analysis suggests that the figure It is much older. An obvious marker of the rising death toll is the changing state of Russia's cemeteries like this one in a city south of Moscow shown here four months before the outbreak of war in October 2021 and this is the same cemetery 18 months later today to which the Kremlin responded.

The BBC investigation into the death toll in the war and neither confirmed nor denied reports that at least 50,000

soldiers

have

died

. Officials say they are subject to state secrets laws. Olga Ifer has that story in Russia, the number of war graves is growing rapidly. from November 9, listing the dates of death volunteers have sent us this video from the city of VTO and here is the same cemetery from above in the last two years it has grown twice in size a patent seen in cemeteries all over Russia Since the start of the invasion, the BBC and its partners have been checking photographs of graves, social media posts and

news

articles to track the number of Russians killed fighting in Ukraine.

So far we have verified 50,000 names. Our data shows that Russia has lost 23% more troops. In the second year of the invasion compared to the first, this increase reflects a change in tactics: at first Russia relied on its professional soldiers deployed to carry out complex operations, but from January 2023 Russia began sending thousands of inexperienced troops in waves to weaken the Ukrainian positions and expose their location to the Russian artillery soldiers themselves they call it the meat grinder. The Russians can now use much more firepower against Ukrainian positions when they go on the offensive, as long as the Ukrainians cannot change that firepower balance.

It is very likely that the tactics will continue to be quite successful in taking limited areas of ground along the front. Prisoners recruited and sent to war have been crucial to these tactics in exchange for six months on the front lines who were promised freedom if they survived. They were reduced to more than 1,000 Russian prisoners from the day they signed up to the day they died. Of that number, more than half of the prisoners were killed within just 12 weeks of arriving at the front, while our count only includes publicly recorded deaths and data from cemeteries across Russia. suggests the real figure is likely to be double that, and as Russian forces continue to press, images of new graves continue to emerge every day.

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