Key facts
- An estimated 500,000 Russian troops have been killed in the war against Ukraine, according to British intelligence officials.
- The majority of Russia's losses occurred since January 2023, with Russia gaining only 2% of Ukrainian territory in that time.
- The total number of Russian casualties, including killed, wounded, and missing, is thought to be 1.5 million since February 2022.
- The war's high death toll is impacting Russia's economic outlook, contributing to slowing growth, weakening consumer demand, and high inflation.
- The Russian Central Bank decided to keep its key rate at 14% due to heightened inflation risks from Ukrainian drone strikes on oil facilities.
An estimated 500,000 Russian troops have been killed so far in Moscow's full-scale war against Ukraine, British intelligence officials announced on Sept. 11. In a prepared statement to journalists, the head of the U.K.'s military Sir Rich Knighton detailed the loss of Russian troops, Sky News reported.
Knighton said that the number of Russian casualties, meaning killed, wounded, and missing, is thought to be 1.5 million since February 2022, matching Ukrainian estimates. Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces reported on Sept. 11 that Russian casualties now stand at over 1.5 million since the start of the full-scale invasion. The figure includes 1,490 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Knighton said that the war was beginning to impact Russia's economic outlook. "The deaths have resulted in slowing growth in Russia, weakening consumer demand and stubbornly high inflation, and the cost of Russia's economy and its people's prosperity and prospects are enormous," Knighton said. Due to heightened inflation risks from Ukrainian drone strikes on oil facilities, the Russian Central Bank's board of directors on Sept. 11 decided to keep the key rate at 14%, the first time the regulator has opted not to cut it since mid-June 2025.