INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
to an independent tally conducted by the BBC's Russian service and the independent Mediazona news website.The two outlets have been
verifying the number of Russian troops killed through open-source information including official statements, newspaper obituaries and social
media posts.More than 27,300 Russian soldiers were killed in 2023, the second year of fighting, the journalists said.The real number of
Russian war casualties is likely much higher, the journalists said, adding that their analysis does not include militia in the
Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions.According to the report, at least 9,000 Russian prisoners have been confirmed killed in combat
after being recruited to fight.The BBC said that under the Wagner mercenary group, which started recruiting fighters from Russian prisons
shortly after the invasion, those former prisoners had survived for an average of three months.Those recruited by the Defense Ministry once
it took over prison recruitment in early 2023 only lived for an average of two months.According to Mediazona, at least 6,000 mobilized
soldiers who were called up in the September 2022 mobilization campaign have been confirmed killed.Among the 50,000 servicemen identified by
Defense Ministry last updated its official combat death toll for the war in Ukraine in September 2022, placing the figure at under 6,000
