Russian soldiers in Ukraine are dying in record numbers, Ukrainian officials say, suggesting it could be one of the deadliest ratios of killed to wounded in modern warfare.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on March 10 that, according to intelligence estimates, "62 percent of Russian losses are killed, while 38 percent are wounded," a ratio of almost 2 to 1, writes Kyiv Independent.
A source from the Ukrainian President's Office, familiar with the data, told the Kyiv Independent that this change represents a major turnaround compared to previous phases of the war.
“By 2025, about 35 percent of Russian losses were killed,” the source said, corresponding to a 1 to 2 ratio. According to him, the new figures are based on separate estimates of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR).
Kyiv Independent has not been able to independently verify these figures, while casualty figures remain among the most difficult and politically sensitive in this war. Russian authorities have not published official casualty figures since the first months of the occupation.
According to a report by the independent CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), Russian forces from February 2022 to December 2025 suffered about 1.2 million casualties, including killed, wounded and missing.
CSIS estimates that between 275,000 and 325,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the same period, calling these losses unprecedented for a major power since World War II. However, these average figures do not reflect the fact that the war has become more deadly in recent months, especially due to the use of drones.
In most modern wars, advances in military medicine have meant that the wounded far outnumber the killed. Military expert Mick Ryan points out that historically the ratio has been around one killed for every three to five wounded.
Strategic studies professor Phillips O'Brien says conditions in Ukraine may have reversed this historical trend. He adds that the current war may be far removed from historical norms, due to drone technology and the extreme difficulties in evacuating the wounded.
One of the closest historical comparisons is the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, where the ratio of killed to wounded was about 1 to 3. Even in World War I, the ratio was about 1 to 2, while in some periods of World War II it may have been similar.
According to experts, the war in Ukraine has become even more deadly due to the massive use of FPV drones.
These drones attack infantry, vehicles, and evacuation teams, making rescuing the wounded often impossible and significantly increasing the number of casualties on the battlefield.
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