400,000 Russian War Dead: Hacked Rosstat Data Explained

What do the hacked Rosstat records show?

The breach was claimed on 1 November 2026 by the Belarusian opposition hacker group Cyberpartisans (Kiberpartizany BY) and the pro-Ukrainian collective Silent Crow. They said they exfiltrated roughly 23 terabytes of internal documents, demographic statistics and economic data from Rosstat. The database offers one of the most detailed views yet of Russia's hidden war losses since the invasion. Between February 2022 and late August 2026, 392,700 death certificates contained an explicit reference to the war. Cyberpartisans put the figure at 393,881, while Silent Crow estimates 450,100 deaths by including non-combat military deaths and cases with unspecified causes.

Why the real death toll is higher

Bloomberg reported that the real figure is 'almost certainly' higher. Some soldiers are missing, bodies remain unidentified, and wounded troops may have died later without the cause being registered as war-related. Silent Crow says annual deaths rose from about 19,000 in 2022 to more than 182,000 in 2025, with most victims men aged 30–49. Independent projects Mediazona and BBC Russian have confirmed 285,881 Russian military deaths as of 6 November 2026, but they also believe the true toll is higher. The real death toll is 'almost certainly' higher, Bloomberg concluded after reviewing the records.

Who hacked Rosstat and what did they find?

Cyberpartisans and Silent Crow are known for targeting Russian institutions; in July 2025 they jointly claimed a hack of Aeroflot's IT systems. The Rosstat operation reportedly compromised about 25,000 computers across central and regional offices. Rosstat confirmed on 4 November 2026 that it had been the target of 'targeted cyberattacks' but denied that confidential data was stolen. Bloomberg could not definitively authenticate the database, but found no signs of forgery and said the figures largely matched previously published official Russian mortality statistics.

How Russia conceals its war losses

Russia has classified military losses as a state secret and has not published official combat casualty figures since September 2022. Rosstat has also stopped releasing cause-of-death data. This opacity has forced researchers to rely on open-source casualty tracking and leaked records. The new data suggests losses are increasingly concentrated among older men and in poorer, remote and ethnically diverse regions, while Moscow and St Petersburg are relatively shielded.

Impact and implications

The leak could intensify pressure on the Kremlin as the war approaches its fifth year. Ukrainian and Western intelligence estimate Russia lost a record 54,000 troops killed or seriously wounded in October 2026 alone. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February that at least 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died. If the higher Silent Crow figure of 450,100 is accurate, it would mean roughly six war-related deaths for every square kilometre of Ukrainian territory Russia has captured, according to DeepState mapping. The new figures add urgency to international calls for accountability in the Ukraine conflict.

FAQ: Russia Ukraine war death toll explained

How many Russians have died in the Ukraine war?

Hacked Rosstat records show 392,700 death certificates explicitly linked to the war between February 2022 and late August 2026. Silent Crow estimates the true toll at about 450,100 when non-combat military deaths and unspecified causes are included.

Where did the leaked data come from?

The Belarusian Cyberpartisans and Ukrainian Silent Crow hacker groups claim to have stolen about 23 terabytes of internal Rosstat data, including more than 11 million death certificates.

Why is the actual death toll uncertain?

Russia classifies military losses as a state secret, and many deaths may go unrecorded because soldiers are missing, bodies are unidentified, or later deaths from wounds are not coded as war-related.

Has Russia responded to the hack?

Yes. Rosstat confirmed it was hit by targeted cyberattacks on 4 November 2026 but denied that confidential data was stolen. Bloomberg found no signs of forgery in the leaked records.