More or Less: Behind the Stats - Has Russia suffered a million casualties in the Ukraine war?

Download Has Russia suffered a million casualties in the Ukraine war?

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: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Nicholas Barrett
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon

Published on Saturday, 28th June 2025.

Available Podcasts from More or Less: Behind the Stats

Subscribe to More or Less: Behind the Stats

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the More or Less: Behind the Stats webpage.