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At least 11,000 foreign-born fighters have died fighting for Russia in Ukraine, leaked government data shows, Bloomberg reports
Leaked Rosstat data examined by Bloomberg record the deaths of 11,335 people born outside Russia who fought on Russia’s side in Ukraine. The figure covers late February 2022 to late August 2026 and shows the war has drawn fighters from nearly 100 countries.
The records include foreign nationals, naturalised Russians and Russian citizens born abroad. The hacker groups behind the leak say more than 390,000 Russians have also died, but Meduza and Mediazona are checking the data for possible tampering and gaps; it does not provide current figures for missing people, whose deaths may be recorded much later.
In short
- Leaked records show 11,335 foreign-born fighters died for Russia.
- The data span nearly 100 countries and more than four years.
- Journalists are checking the figures for tampering and missing information.
Explained simply
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the fighting has continued for years. Russia’s forces include people born abroad, among them foreign nationals and people who later became Russian citizens.
Rosstat is Russia’s state statistics agency, which collects information including death records. Leaked records can offer clues about the war’s human cost, but their accuracy and completeness may be difficult to establish, and deaths of people reported missing can be recorded later.
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