Nearly Two Million Military Casualties Reported in Ukraine War, US Think Tank Says

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in nearly two million military casualties — including those killed, wounded, or missing — on both sides, according to a study published Tuesday by a US-based think tank.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Russian forces have suffered the heaviest losses, with up to 325,000 soldiers killed out of an estimated 1.2 million total casualties since the invasion began nearly four years ago.

“No major power has suffered casualties on this scale in any conflict since World War II,” CSIS said, adding that Russian forces have made only slow battlefield advances.

Ukrainian troops have also incurred heavy losses, with between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties recorded from February 2022 to December 2025. Of these, an estimated 100,000 to 140,000 were killed, the report said.

CSIS estimated that combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties could reach 1.8 million and may approach two million by spring 2026.

In February 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a US television network that nearly 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since 2022, a figure analysts believe is understated. Tens of thousands more are missing or have been taken prisoner.

Independent investigations by the BBC’s Russian service and Mediazona have confirmed more than 163,000 Russian military deaths through publicly available records, though they say the real toll is likely higher.

The conflict has also had a devastating impact on civilians. United Nations monitors reported that 2025 saw more civilian deaths in Ukraine than any year except 2022.

More than 2,500 civilians were killed and over 12,000 wounded in 2025, according to the UN human rights office, which has verified nearly 15,000 civilian deaths since 2022. The agency said the actual number is likely far higher.