The Economist: Russia may have lost up to 770,000 dead in Ukraine

This piece has two parts: a sourced news report, followed by the Sardaana News editorial position.

What happened

According to a new estimate by The Economist, as of late October 2026 Russia may have lost between 374,000 and 770,000 people killed in its war against Ukraine, with total casualties including the wounded at 1.4–2.1 million, as reported by The Moscow Times and DW. Russia publishes no reliable official totals; The Economist’s figure comes from a model combining intelligence, defence-ministry and independent estimates with data on combat intensity and territorial change.

The Moscow Times notes that the upper estimate of deaths exceeds the population of cities such as Izhevsk, Barnaul or Tolyatti, and is comparable to Yakutsk and Bryansk combined.

Other estimates

Ukraine’s General Staff claims (as of 29 October) that Russia lost 49,040 troops in October — the highest monthly figure since the full-scale invasion, about 1,750 a day. The claim cannot be independently verified.

According to ISW, cited by The Moscow Times, despite these losses Russia suffered net territorial losses of 241 km² in September and the first three weeks of October.

BBC Russian and Mediazona have identified 285,023 Russian dead by name. They estimate that their review of cemeteries and obituaries captures only 45–55% of actual deaths, putting irreversible losses at possibly 518,000–663,000; including pre-annexation “LDNR” militia and North Korean troops in Kursk region in 2024–25, 541,000–659,000 killed (The Moscow Times).

Sardaana News editorial position

Counting the wounded, Russia’s losses in this war already exceed one million people — The Economist puts them at 1.4–2.1 million. This is a catastrophe for which Putin and his aggression against Ukraine bear responsibility.

After the war, Russia faces a giant challenge that can lead to revolution: a budget crisis and a terrible rise in taxes. Russia is already among the world leaders in tax burden, and the situation will get worse.

The dead are working-age men and potential fathers. This blow will cut the birth rate further and deepen population ageing. The war is burning the country’s labour and demographic future.

By Sardaana News’s estimate, another 800,000–900,000 disabled people and as many war participants will need lifelong pensions and benefits that Russia’s budget cannot afford — unlike the United States, where veterans receive decent pensions and benefits.

The regime will try to shift the cost of the war onto the remaining citizens through taxes, while veterans and the disabled are left with an empty treasury. Our criticism is aimed at the Russian state and its war policy, not at the people that policy sent to the front.