More dan 70,000 pipo wey dey fight for Russia military now don die for Ukraine, according to data wey BBC analysed.
And for di first time, volunteers – civilians wey join di armed forces after di war start – now make up di highest number of pipo wey kpai for battlefield since Russia full-scale invasion start for 2022.
Every day, di names of those wey die for Ukraine, dia obituaries and photographs from dia funerals dey dey published across Russia for media and on social networks.
BBC Russian and di independent website Mediazona don put togeda di names, along with names from oda open sources, including official reports.
We check say di information, say na di authorities or relatives of those wey die share am – and say dem don identify say dem die for di war.
New graves for cemeteries don also help to provide di names of soldiers wey die for Ukraine – dem dey usually marked dem by flags and flowers wey di defence ministry dey send.
We don identify di names of 70,112 Russian soldiers wey dem kill for Ukraine, but di believe na say di actual number dey higher. Some families no dey share details of dia relatives deaths for public – and our analysis no include names wey we no fit to check, or di deaths of militia for Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk for eastern Ukraine.
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Among dem, 13,781 be volunteers – about 20% – and fatalities among volunteers now don pass oda categories. Former prisoners, wey join up in return for pardons for dia crimes, previously be di highest but now dem account for 19% of all confirmed deaths. Mobilised soldiers – citizens wey dem call up to fight – account for 13%.
Since October last year, weekly number of volunteers wey die never dey below 100 – and, in some weeks, we don record more dan 310 volunteer deaths.
As for Ukraine – dem dey rarely comment on di number of deaths on di battlefield. For February, President, Volodymyr Zelensky, say 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers don die, but estimates based on US intelligence suggest say di number pass so.
Di tori of Rinat Khusniyarov na typical one of many of di volunteer soldiers wey die. E be from Ufa for Bashkortostan and bin dey do two jobs to make ends meet -for one tram depot and plywood factory. R be 62 years old wen e sign im contract with di Russian army for November last year.
E survive less dan three months of fighting and dem kill am on 27 February. Im obituary, for one local online memorial website, simply call am “a hardworking, decent man”.
According to di data wey we analyse, most of di men wey dey sign up come from small towns in parts of Russia wia stable, well-paid work dey hard to find.
Most be like say dem joined willingly, although some for di republic of Chechnya don tell human rights activists and lawyers of force and threats.
Some of di volunteers don say dem no understand say di contracts dem bin dey sign no get end date, and dem don approach pro-Kremlin journalists to, without success, ask dem for help to end dia service.
Salaries for di military fit dey five to seven times higher dan average wages in parts of di kontri wey pipo no to get, plus soldiers get social benefits, including free childcare and tax breaks. One-off payments for pipo wey sign up don also rise in value in many parts of Russia.
Most of di volunteers wey dey die for front dey aged between 42 and 50. Dem reach 4,100 men in our list of more dan 13,000 volunteers. Di oldest volunteer wey die na 71 years old – a total of 250 volunteers above di age of 60 don die for di war.
Soldiers don tell BBC say rising number of deaths among volunteers, na partly sake of dia deployment to di most operationally challenging areas on di front line, for Donetsk region for di east, wia dem form di backbone of reinforcements for units wey dia number don reduce, Russian soldiers tell BBC.
Russia “meat grinder” strategy still continue, according to Russian soldiers wey we don speak to. Dem dey use dat word to describe di way Moscow dey send waves of soldiers forward continuously to try to wear down Ukrainian forces and expose dia locations to Russian artillery. Drone footage wey dem share online show Russian forces dey attack Ukrainian positions with little or no equipment or support from artillery or military vehicles.
Sometimes, hundreds of men don dey killed on a single day. In recent weeks, di Russian military don make desperate, but unsuccessful, attempts to seize di eastern Ukrainian towns of Chasiv Yar and Pokrovsk with such tactics.
One official study by di primary military medical directorate of di Russian defence ministry say 39% of soldiers deaths na as a result of limb injuries and say mortality rates go dey significantly improved if first aid and subsequent medical care dey better.
Russian government actions suggests say e dey determined to avoid forcing pipo to fight through a new, official wave of mobilisation – instead, e dey increase calls for service volunteers, along with di benefits to do so.
Remarks by regional officials for local parliaments suggest say dem don give dem di task from di top with trying to recruit pipo from dia local districts. Dem dey advertise on job vacancy websites, contact men wey get debt and law problems, and conduct recruitment campaigns for higher education establishments.
Since 2022, convicted prisoners don also dey encouraged to join up in return for dia release, but now, a new policy mean say pipo wey dey face criminal prosecution fit accept a deal to go to war instead of facing trial in court. In return, dem dey freeze dia cases and potentially drop dem altogether.
A small number of di volunteers wey dey killed come from oda countries. We don identify di names of 272 such men, many of wey come from Central Asia – 47 from Uzbekistan, 51 from Tajikistan, and 26 from Kyrgyzstan.
Last year see reports of Russia recruiting people from Cuba, Iraq, Yemen and Serbia. Foreigners already living in Russia without valid work permits or visas, wey agree to “work for di state”, dey promised dem no go dey deported and dey dey offer dem a simplified route to citizenship if dem survive di war. Many have later complain say dem no understand di paperwork – as with Russian citizens, dem don turn to di media for help.
Di governments of India and Nepal don ask Moscow to stop sending dia citizens to Ukraine and repatriate di bodies of di dead. So far, dem never act upon di calls.
Many new recruits wey join di military don criticise di training wey dem don receive. One man wey sign contract with di Russian army for November last year tell BBC say dem bin promise am two weeks of training for a shooting range before deployment to di front.
“In reality, dem just throw pipo out on di parade ground, and give dem some gear,” e say, adding say di equipment bin dey poorly made.
“Dem load us ontop trains, den trucks, and send us go front. Dem throw about half of us into battle straight from di road. As a result, some pipo go from di recruitment office to di front line in just a week,” e tok.
Samuel Cranny-Evans, analyst for di Royal United Services Institute for UK say: “Basic understanding of tins like camouflage and concealment or how to move quietly at night, how to move without creating a profile for yourself during di day,” na tins dem suppose teach as basic infantry skills.
Another soldier also tell BBC say equipment na problem, saying e “dey different, but most often na some random set of uniforms, standard boots wey dey wear out within a day, and a kit bag with a label wey show say dem make am in di mid-20th Century”.
“A random bulletproof vest and a cheap helmet. E no dey possible to fight with dis. If you wan survive, you get to buy your own equipment.”
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