Russia-Ukraine war: One million dead or injured in devastating conflict

The devastating two-and-a-half-year war between Ukraine and Russia has resulted in approximately one million casualties, a shocking figure that will impact the already declining prewar populations of both nations for years to come.
Accurate casualty figures have been challenging to ascertain due to Russia and Ukraine’s reluctance to release official estimates or occasionally providing numbers that are widely distrusted.
Earlier this year, a confidential Ukrainian estimate suggested that the number of deceased Ukrainian troops was around 80,000, with 400,000 wounded, as per sources close to the matter.
Western intelligence’s estimates of Russian casualties differ, with some suggesting nearly 200,000 deaths and about 400,000 injuries.
These losses pose significant challenges for Russia as it deploys waves of inadequately trained soldiers to make headway in eastern Ukraine while also countering a recent Ukrainian incursion in the Kursk region.

However, these losses are even more detrimental for Ukraine, whose population is less than a quarter of its colossal neighbor’s size.
The escalating death tolls on both sides underscore the long-term devastation for nations already grappling with population declines due to economic instability and social unrest.
This also sheds light on one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations for initiating the 2022 invasion: to bolster Russia’s population by assimilating Ukrainians.
Over the past decade, Russia’s invasions and seizure of Ukrainian territory have resulted in a loss of at least 10 million people under occupation or as refugees, according to government estimates and demographers.
Putin has consistently prioritized addressing Russia’s persistent demographic decline, leading the Kremlin to embark on a campaign to Russify occupied territories.

This includes large-scale child abductions and pressuring Ukrainians to acquire Russian citizenship. In the occupied Donbas region, property sales and other transactions now necessitate obtaining Russian citizenship.
Ukraine was once part of the Russian Empire, and Putin has repeatedly expressed his desire to revert the country to that state.
He denies Ukrainian identity and statehood, asserting that Ukrainians, predominantly Slavic and Orthodox Christian, are actually part of the Russian nation.
Political scientist and author Ivan Krastev told the Wall Street Journal: “Demographics is a priority for Putin, and he wants to use Ukraine and its people to consolidate the Slavic core of Russia.
“But for Ukraine, the dilemma is existential: How many people can you lose in a war before losing your future?”