Leaked Rosstat data puts Russian war deaths above 390,000
The hacker groups Cyber Partisans BY and Silent Crow say they stole about 23 terabytes of data from Russia’s statistics agency and used death records to estimate more than 390,000 Russian deaths connected to the war against Ukraine. Journalists found no signs that the database was fabricated, but its authenticity could not be independently cryptographically verified. The estimates differ according to methodology and remain uncertain.
Das Wichtigste
- Cyber Partisans BY counted 393,881 deaths linked to combat actions or their consequences.
- Silent Crow estimated 450,100 deaths using broader criteria that also included non-combat military deaths and other categories.
- The leaked records cover 24 February 2022 through the end of August 2026.
- Journalists analyzed more than 11 million death certificates.
- The hackers said they stole about 23 terabytes of Rosstat data.
- Russia has not published official combat-loss statistics since September 2022.
- The joint Mediazona and BBC Russian Service database contained about 286,000 confirmed names as of 8 November 2026.
Warum es wichtig ist
The leak could provide new evidence of Russian military losses at a time when the Russian government has stopped publishing official casualty statistics. It includes more than death tolls, potentially exposing internal demographic, economic and military data. However, the figures cannot be treated as definitive because the database was not independently cryptographically verified, death certificates do not always state the actual cause of death, and registrations are substantially delayed.
Was geschehen ist
Cyber Partisans BY and Silent Crow said they compromised Rosstat and extracted around 23 terabytes of information, including internal documents, demographic and economic statistics and records relating to Russian war losses. The material contained more than 11 million death certificates covering the period from 24 February 2022 to the end of August 2026, with information on residence, age and place of death. Cyber Partisans BY counted 393,881 people whose recorded cause of death was combat actions or their consequences. Silent Crow produced a higher estimate of 450,100 by also including non-combat military deaths, deaths marked as terrorist attacks and deaths of people registered in Russia who died in Ukraine or occupied territories without a specified cause. Rosstat did not answer Bloomberg’s requests for comment. Journalists found no evidence of fabrication and said the metadata was consistent with a genuine export, but could not independently and cryptographically authenticate the database.
Wie ukrainische Quellen darüber berichten
Ukrainian coverage emphasizes the scale of the alleged Russian death toll and contrasts it with Russia’s refusal to publish official military-loss figures. The reports also highlight changes in mortality among Russian men, the concentration of deaths in eastern Ukraine and the potential effects of mounting losses on Russia’s reserves and public finances.
Wie internationale Quellen darüber berichten
The available international framing relies substantially on Bloomberg reporting, other media investigations and the hackers’ own analysis. It stresses that the database’s authenticity could not be independently and cryptographically verified, while journalists found no evidence that it had been fabricated. Coverage also draws attention to incomplete named lists, registration delays, inconsistent causes of death and differences between methods of estimating the total.
Wo die Berichte auseinandergehen
The estimates vary substantially by methodology. Cyber Partisans BY counted 393,881 deaths explicitly associated with combat actions or their consequences, whereas Silent Crow estimated 450,100 using broader criteria. The joint Mediazona and BBC Russian Service named list contained about 286,000 confirmed deaths as of 8 November 2026, while a separate Mediazona and Meduza study based on inheritance records estimated approximately 350,000 Russian military deaths by the end of 2025. These differences partly reflect incomplete lists, delayed registration and broader or narrower definitions of war-related deaths.
Hintergrund
Russia stopped publishing official combat-loss statistics in September 2022, and Rosstat ceased publishing annual cause-of-death data in 2024. Registration delays increased after 2023: the median time was about six weeks in the second half of 2023 but exceeded four months in 2025. More than 2,500 war-related deaths from 2025 were added to the database in August 2026 alone, illustrating the delay between a death and its registration.