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War in Ukraine Costs Russia Nearly 1.2 Million Casualties—Worst Losses Since World War II
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Russia has sustained exceptionally high human losses in its war against Ukraine while making limited territorial gains, according to new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on January 27.
The CSIS estimates that Russian forces have suffered close to 1.2 million casualties since February 2022. According to the analysis, this represents the highest losses sustained by any major power in a single conflict since World War II.
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In 2025 alone, Russia is estimated to have lost about 415,000 soldiers killed or wounded, averaging roughly 35,000 casualties per month. Of the total since the start of the invasion, up to 315,000 Russian troops are believed to have been killed.
“Russian casualties and fatalities are also remarkable from a historical Russian and Soviet perspective. Russian battlefield fatalities in Ukraine are more than 17 times greater than Soviet fatalities in Afghanistan during the 1980s, 11 times greater than during Russia’s First and Second Chechen Wars in the 1990s and 2000s, respectively, and over five times greater than all Russian and Soviet wars combined since World War II,” CSIS noted.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces are estimated by CSIS to have suffered between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties, including up to 140,000 killed. Taken together, total casualties on both sides are assessed at around 1.8 million and are projected to approach 2 million by spring.
Beyond the slow pace of its advances, Russia’s territorial gains have remained limited. Over the past two years, Russian forces expanded the area under their control by roughly 3,604 square kilometers. In 2024, they captured about 0.6% of Ukraine’s territory, followed by another 0.8% in 2025.
The study also found that the pace of Russian advances has been slower than during World War I. From February 2024 to January 2026, Russian troops advanced from Avdiivka toward Chasiv Yar at an average rate of around 15 meters per day. The offensive toward Kupiansk, ongoing since November 2024, progressed at about 23 meters per day, while the advance toward Pokrovsk averaged roughly 70 meters per day.
“In total, Russian forces have seized around 75,000 square kilometers (approximately 12 percent of Ukraine) since the 2022 invasion and control about 120,000 square kilometers (approximately 20 percent of Ukraine and an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania),” CSIS added.
The assessment also aligns with recent statements from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On January 26, he said Russian forces suffered around 35,000 casualties in December 2025 alone, citing both killed and severely wounded troops, and pointed to the growing impact of Ukraine’s drone warfare.
“During December, our units achieved a result of 35,000 eliminated occupiers. These are killed and severely wounded soldiers. To put that into perspective, during ten years of war in Afghanistan, the Soviet army lost half that number,” Zelenskyy stated.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted Russia sustained exceptionally heavy battlefield losses in December 2025, with up to 1,000 troops killed per day.
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