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More Than 118,000 Russian and Foreign Troops Killed in Russia`s War Against Ukraine, Says BBC
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 118,139 Russian servicemen have been confirmed killed in action. Among them are 523 foreign nationals from 28 countries, who signed military contracts without holding Russian citizenship, according to a new joint investigation by the BBC Russian Service, Mediazona, and a team of open-source researchers, unveiled on July 11.
The highest number of foreign casualties were citizens of Tajikistan (72) and Uzbekistan (66). More than half were recruited from Russian prisons, often by the Wagner Group, a private military company notorious for offering convicts a path out of incarceration in exchange for frontline deployment.
Since 2023, prisoner recruitment has been taken over by Russia’s Ministry of Defense. Human rights groups report that migrants are routinely offered military service in return for lifting bans on entry, canceling deportation orders, or expedited citizenship.
Among the dead are 70 citizens of Nepal, and over 60 individuals from Georgia, mostly from Russian-occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The list also includes 54 Ukrainians — largely prisoners who had been living in Ukrainian government-controlled territory before the war began.
Notably, residents of occupied Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia who are fighting for Russia are recorded separately and not included in these figures.
One of the most high-profile foreign fighters killed was Michael Gloss, an American and the son of a current deputy CIA director. He joined Russian forces in September 2023 and died in April 2024.
The report also references South Korean intelligence, which estimates that up to 600 North Korean soldiers may have been killed while fighting for Russia. Their identities have not yet been confirmed.
Earlier, it was reported that nearly 105,000 Russian military personnel had been identified as killed in action, with 16,500 of them recruited prisoners and 4,900 officers included in the tally.
