NATO official reveals Russia’s war casualty count

How many have been killed and wounded?

In February 2022, the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began and kicked off a war that has lasted for more than four years and led to an enormous casualty count for Moscow, at least according to a recent statement from a senior NATO official.

Revelations from a senior NATO official

A high-ranking NATO representative speaking on the sidelines of a recent meeting between the alliance’s defence ministers said that Moscow has suffered between 1.3 million and 1.5 million casualties over the course of its invasion of Ukraine.

Figures from the Ukrainian General Staff

The NATO official’s figure was in line with the Ukrainian General Staff’s daily update on Russian equipment and personnel losses. Ukraine’s assessments of Russian losses in the war have been generally accurate since it began publishing its figures after the full-scale invasion began.

In line with NATO’s estimate

On June 18th, the day of the NATO Defence Ministers’ meeting, Moscow had reportedly suffered 1,388,050 total personnel casualties since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Another third-party assessment

In January 2026, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a report on Russian losses up to that point in the war. The Washington-based think tank claimed the Kremlin had suffered 1.2 million casualties, which it reported was “more losses than any major power in any war since World War II.”

NATO’s estimate of Russia’s war dead

The UK Defense Journal reported the unnamed senior NATO official also stated that the Kremlin was struggling to replace its losses amid the ongoing war, showing signs that it was overstretched, and had suffered a “staggering half a million killed.”

In line with the CSIS report

The Center for Strategic and International Studies report in January 2026 assessed that Russia had suffered approximately 325,000 personnel killed since February 2022. So it is possible that the NATO official’s figure about Russia’s war dead was accurate.

A figure from an important UK government official

In late May 2026, the Director of the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Anne Keast-Butler, reported in an inaugural public speech that roughly 500,000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the full-scale invasion began, BBC News reported.

Another assessment of those killed in action

The independent Russian-language outlets Mediazona and Meduza, working alongside BBC News Russian Service, recently reported that their long-running project to verify the names of Russia’s war dead could confirm the deaths of 227,680 as of June 18th.

Over 350,000 may have been killed so far

The outlets also believe that Russia has likely suffered roughly 352,000 personnel killed in the Ukraine war, based on additional data they have collected from Russia’s probate registry.

Russia has reportedly sustained a relatively steady rate of casualties, according to the unnamed NATO official, losing between 30,000 and 35,000 military personnel a month.

Credit: The Daily Digest