More or Less: Behind the Stats
Has Russia suffered a million casualties in the Ukraine war?
June 28, 2025
9 minutes
Available for over a year
It’s been over three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the human toll is growing on both sides.
Recently, politicians and journalists have declared a grim milestone, one million Russian casualties.
But is this number accurate?
Tim talks to Seth Jones, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Olga Ivshina, from the BBC Russian service, to investigate this statistic.
If you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at, email the More or Less team: [email protected]
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Nicholas Barrett
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon