"At Least 450,000 Russian Deaths"... War's Toll Revealed by Hack

UK's FT obtains and analyzes hacked Russian statistics agency data
"Death toll could rise to 650,000 by year-end"
Health situation also dire... COVID-19 death rate three times the EU's

Yonhap News Agency

A Russian statistics agency hack revealed that at least 450,000 people on the Russian side have died since Russia began its war against Ukraine in 2022.

On the 13th (local time), the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) said the estimate was based on its analysis of Russian statistics agency data from August obtained by the Belarusian anti-government hacking group Cyber Partisans and the Ukrainian hacking group Silent Crow.

The Russian statistics agency data directly classified 410,000 deaths as conflict-related. Most were military personnel, though some civilians appear to be included. The data also recorded 42,000 deaths of men of combat age whose bodies had not been recovered and whose families had gone through legal proceedings to have them declared dead.

The FT reported that an analysis of the deceased people's profiles, locations and status identified an additional 12,000 military deaths, including men of combat age killed in frontline areas such as Pokrovsk.

Actual deaths are believed to be higher, given the time required for paperwork procedures. For example, deaths linked to the 2022 siege of Mariupol were not registered until this year. The FT also estimated that actual deaths could have reached about 550,000 by early August this year and could rise to 650,000 by the end of the year. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has disclosed its war casualty figures.

Deaths were concentrated in the fortified area of northwestern Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine. An estimated 120,000 people were killed in the area, which includes Avdiivka and Pokrovsk. In nearby Bakhmut, 48,000 deaths were recorded. This is far more than the 58,000 U.S. military deaths during the Vietnam War.

The average age of those killed is also rising. The average age of people who died in the war last year was 40, markedly higher than the average of 34 in 2022. Analysts say this suggests that recruitment is failing to keep pace with troop losses.

Meanwhile, the leaked data also shed light on Russia's public health situation. In 2021, 457,000 people in Russia died from COVID-19. Despite COVID-19 vaccines already being available, deaths surged, apparently because of inadequate and delayed public health measures. The death rate relative to population was reportedly 2.5 to 3 times that of the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU).

Since 2021, a total of 85,000 people have died from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), equivalent to more than 20,000 deaths a year. According to United Nations estimates, the combined total for North America, Western Europe and Central Europe is fewer than 10,000.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.