Russian forces lost approximately 1,480 military personnel over the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on August 20.
The latest daily losses bring the estimated total of Russian army personnel casualties to 1,472,640 since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian military officials also updated their assessment of destroyed and damaged Russian military hardware. According to the update, Russian forces lost 500 vehicles and fuel tankers alongside 56 artillery systems, 10 ground robotic systems, seven tanks, seven multiple launch rocket systems, three armored fighting vehicles, three units of special equipment, and 1,672 operational-tactical drones in a single day.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that cumulative Russian equipment losses since the start of the conflict now include 12,283 tanks, 25,165 armored fighting vehicles, and 48,261 artillery systems.
Ukrainian figures also list 2,050 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,577 air defense systems, 439 aircraft, 354 helicopters, 2,321 ground robotic systems, 470,869 operational-tactical drones, 5,010 cruise missiles, 35 warships and boats, two submarines, 136,818 vehicles and fuel tankers, and 4,551 special equipment units.
Independent Casualty Estimates
Moscow does not officially publish regular updates on its military casualties in Ukraine. The Russian government last stated official death figures in September 2022, when defence officials claimed that 5,937 soldiers had been killed.
Independent researchers have gathered far higher confirmed death counts. A joint investigation by the BBC Russian service and independent news outlet Mediazona had identified the names and verified details of nearly 235,000 dead Russian soldiers by July.
Researchers involved in the project noted that the actual total of Russian military deaths is likely significantly higher than the verified list. Western military alliance NATO estimates that total Russian casualties may be as high as half a million.
Ukrainian Military Casualties
Kyiv withheld official information regarding Ukrainian military casualties for much of the war, maintaining that full numbers would be published only after hostilities conclude. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has periodically provided updated figures.
In a July 30 interview with American television network Fox News, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine had lost 50,000 soldiers killed in action. He added that approximately 400,000 Ukrainian troops had been wounded, while a large number of service members remained missing.
Combined military casualties across both armies have now reached historic levels. A report published on July 1 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research organisation, estimated that total military personnel killed and wounded on both sides exceeded two million since the invasion began.
