During the war, Ukraine and Russia lost a total of about a million servicemen killed and wounded.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) writes about this with reference to sources.
Ukraine and Russia give almost no information about their losses in the war. Moscow officially last named the number of people killed in September 2022 — 5 937 people. Ukraine announced the only official estimate of the dead in February 2024 — 31 000.
The WSJ, referring to a confidential Ukrainian estimate made earlier this year, writes that the number of dead Ukrainian servicemen is 80 000, and the wounded are 400 000.
Western intelligence estimates of Russian casualties vary: according to some data, the number of dead reaches almost 200 000, and the number of wounded — about 400 000. This figure roughly coincides with the data of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, which last reported 635 000 killed and wounded Russians.
How the war affected demography in Ukraine
WSJ also points out that the war caused serious demographic problems for Ukraine. The last census in 2001 recorded 48 million inhabitants. According to Ukrainian demographers and government officials, at the beginning of 2022, before a full-scale invasion, this number dropped to 40 million, and this estimate includes the population of Crimea illegally annexed by Russia.
Since the start of the war in February 2022, more than 6 million have left Ukraine, and Russia has seized new territories, so the total population in Kyiv-controlled territory has dropped to 25-27 million, according to previously undisclosed Ukrainian government estimates cited by the publication.
A researcher at the Ptukh Institute of Demography Oleksandr Hladun gave a higher estimate to the pre-war population of all of Ukraine — 42 million people and about 29 million living in government-controlled territory as of the beginning of this year. According to him, it will be possible to finally calculate the population of Ukraine only a few years after the end of the war, when the number of repatriates will become clear.
The effect can be long-lasting, WSJ notes. Along with the military deaths, Ukraineʼs birth rate has also fallen to its lowest level on record, with three times as many deaths as births in the first half of this year, according to government figures. During this period, about 250 000 deaths and more than 87 000 births were recorded, which is 9% less than in the same period last year.