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Over 600 Russian Soldiers Died Off the Battlefield in 2025—A Surge in Suicide and Drug Use
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
The Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has identified a significant and escalating pattern of non-combat incidents within the Russian armed forces, suggesting profound demoralization across the contingent.
According to a HUR report on November 10, the Central Military District of the Russian Federation—a major element of the occupation forces—recorded over 600 service member deaths during 2024–2025 attributable to factors such as severe official negligence, fatal overdoses of alcohol and illegal narcotics, altercations, and chronic lack of sanitation.
“Specifically, in 2024, at least 71 servicemen committed suicide, and in the first half of 2025, 86 soldiers and officers had already taken their own lives,” the statement read.
Furthermore, substandard provisions within the district’s military units resulted in the deaths of 32 personnel due to food poisoning. Non-combat mortality linked to substance abuse is also a mounting concern; the figures for the incomplete year 2025 show 112 documented fatalities from drug poisoning, closely approaching the 143 deaths registered for all of 2024.
“The increase in the level of suicides, crime, and drug abuse among Russian military personnel is a sign of the deep demoralization of the occupation contingent,” HUR concluded.
Earlier, an investigative report by Radio Svoboda’s Siberia.Realities project revealed that the Russian Ministry of Defense is granting military contracts to convicted serial killers and violent offenders. These individuals are reportedly permitted to participate in combat operations in Ukraine as a condition for securing early release from penal institutions.
The report specifically details the cases of two men, who had been convicted of multiple murders, were released from custody and subsequently deployed to the zone of the so-called “Special Military Operation” after formalizing contracts with the Russian military establishment.
