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More than two million Russian and Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded over four years of war, a new study published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) notes. Russia bears the heavier toll at 1.4 million casualties, a figure the study describes as representing Russia's darkest period since its February 2022 invasion.
"Russia is facing, by far, its darkest period of the war since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine," said Seth G. Jones, one of the study's authors.
"The war has come home to everyday Russians, who are paying the price of President Putin's war with a sputtering economy, skyrocketing prices, a growing number of body bags coming back from the front lines and drone strikes in Russian cities," Jones added.
According to the study, Russia has suffered 1.4 million total battlefield casualties—including killed, wounded, and missing—with an estimated 400,000 to 450,000 of those being killed in action.
That figure, it noted, is more than four times greater than all U.S. fatalities in all wars combined since World War II, and more than nine times greater than all Soviet and Russian fatalities in all wars combined since World War II.
In 2026, Russia's monthly casualty rates of between 30,000 and 34,000 have likely exceeded its recruitment rate of approximately 27,000 recruits per month, the study said, meaning Russia is losing troops faster than it can replace them.
The Russia-Ukraine casualty ratio has risen to nearly 8:1 in the first half of 2026, up from between 2:1 and 3:1 for much of the war, driven largely by Ukraine's expanded use of AI-enabled drones as part of an air interdiction campaign.
Ukrainian forces have suffered between 525,000 and 625,000 total casualties, including between 125,000 and 150,000 deaths, over the same period, the study said.
Russia outnumbers Ukraine on the battlefield at nearly three to one, with more than 400,000 Russians believed to be facing about 250,000 Ukrainians on the front line, according to military analysts.
Despite the lower overall Ukrainian casualty figure, Ukraine is losing a larger share of its smaller army.
Russia has maintained its troop levels despite the high casualties by carrying out its first draft since World War II and by enlisting felons and debtors, among other tactics.
Putin has paid bounties to new recruits and pressed people accused of crimes to enlist in exchange for dismissing charges. In 2024 and 2025, North Korea sent more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia retake territory in the Kursk region, where Ukraine had captured ground.
The study said Russia's ground offensive has largely stalled, with average advances of approximately 50 meters per day around Kostiantynivka, 70 meters per day around Pokrovsk, and 90 meters per day around Sloviansk.
These are described as among the slowest rates of advance in any war over the last century.
Russia's territorial control in Ukraine actually shrank in the spring of 2026.
"Russian forces lost more ground than they captured in both April and May, a net loss of roughly 400 square kilometers and their first monthly net losses since August 2024, yet another sign of Russia's military struggles," the study said.
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