Hacker groups claim Rosstat leak reveals over 390,000 Russian war-related deaths
The hacker groups Cyber Partisans BY and Silent Crow said they stole roughly 23 terabytes of data from Rosstat and used death records to estimate that more than 390,000 Russians died in connection with Russia's war against Ukraine. Their estimates range from 393,881 to 450,100, partly because Silent Crow used a broader methodology. Journalists found no signs of fabrication, but the database's authenticity could not be independently and cryptographically verified.
Hlavné body
- The records cover 24 February 2022 through the end of August 2026.
- Journalists analysed more than 11 million death certificates.
- Cyber Partisans BY counted 393,881 deaths attributed to combat actions or their consequences.
- Silent Crow estimated 450,100 deaths using broader criteria.
- The hackers said they stole about 23 terabytes of Rosstat data.
- Bloomberg could not independently and cryptographically verify the database's authenticity.
- Russia has not published official combat-loss statistics since September 2022.
Prečo je to dôležité
The leak provides a new estimate of Russian deaths connected to the war at a time when official Russian casualty figures have not been published since September 2022. The data may reveal not only death tolls but also demographic, economic and military information. The estimates nevertheless remain uncertain because the database has not been cryptographically authenticated, medical certificates do not always state the actual cause of death, and registration delays are substantial.
Čo sa stalo
Cyber Partisans BY and Silent Crow claimed they carried out a large-scale breach of Rosstat and obtained about 23 terabytes of internal documents, demographic and economic statistics, and information about Russian military losses. Based on more than 11 million death certificates, Cyber Partisans BY counted 393,881 Russians whose recorded cause of death was combat actions or their consequences. Silent Crow produced a broader estimate of 450,100, also including non-combat military deaths, deaths marked as terrorist attacks and deaths of people registered in Russia who died in Ukraine or occupied territories without a specified cause. Journalists found no evidence that the database had been fabricated, and its metadata was consistent with a genuine data export, but Bloomberg could not independently verify its authenticity cryptographically. Rosstat did not respond to Bloomberg's request concerning the confidential database.
Ako to opisujú ukrajinské zdroje
Ukrainian coverage emphasizes the scale of the reported Russian death toll, Russia's prolonged refusal to publish official casualty statistics and the possibility that the leak exposes concealment of military losses. Some reports also highlight mortality trends among Russian men, the concentration of deaths in eastern Ukraine and the consequences of growing losses for Russian reserves and state finances.
Ako to opisujú medzinárodné zdroje
The available Ukrainian coverage relies heavily on Bloomberg, international media investigations and the hackers' own analysis. It presents the figures as significant new estimates while stressing that the database's authenticity could not be independently and cryptographically verified. The reporting also gives substantial weight to incomplete named lists, delayed death registrations, inconsistent causes of death and differences between estimation methods.
V čom sa spravodajstvo líši
The two hacker groups reported materially different totals. Cyber Partisans BY counted 393,881 deaths explicitly linked to combat actions or their consequences, while Silent Crow estimated 450,100 using a broader definition that included non-combat military deaths, deaths marked as terrorist attacks and deaths occurring in Ukraine or occupied territories without a stated cause. Other methodologies also produced lower figures: the joint named lists of Mediazone and the BBC Russian Service contained about 286,000 established deaths, while a Mediazone and Meduza study estimated about 350,000 by the end of 2025. The named lists are incomplete, particularly for the latest months and years of the war.
Súvislosti
Russia stopped publishing official combat-loss statistics in September 2022, and Rosstat stopped publishing annual cause-of-death data in 2024. The delay between a death and its official registration has increased: the median was about six weeks in the second half of 2023 but exceeded four months in 2025. In August 2026, the database received more than 2,500 war-related death records for deaths that occurred in 2025, illustrating the scale of the backlog.