Hackers Claim Rosstat Breach Reveals Over 390,000 Russian War Deaths
Two hacker collectives, Cyberpartisans BY and Silent Crow, have announced a large-scale breach of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), claiming to have accessed internal data that suggests over 390,000 Russian citizens have died in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began. The groups stated they stole approximately 23 terabytes of information, which included demographic records, economic statistics, and specific details regarding Russian military losses. According to their analysis of this stolen material, the number of killed ranges from 393,881 to 450,100, depending on the methodology applied by each group.
Kiberpartizany BY, also known as Cyberpartisans BY, calculated its figure based on deaths where military action or its direct consequences were listed as the cause, reaching at least 393,881 as of 27 August 2026. Silent Crow provided a higher estimate of 450,100 by employing a broader counting method. This group included not only combat fatalities but also non-combat losses among military personnel, deaths classified as terrorist acts, and individuals registered in Russia who died in occupied territories or Ukraine where the exact cause of death remained unestablished. The discrepancy between the two tallies stems directly from these differing definitions of loss categories.
The claim arrives against a backdrop of limited official transparency from Moscow. Russia has not released official statistics on combat losses since September 2022, and Rosstat ceased publishing annual data on causes of death starting in 2024. This cessation has significantly complicated independent assessments of the war’s demographic impact. Consequently, access to Rosstat’s internal statistical materials could theoretically allow for a more accurate evaluation of human losses, although experts caution that such data may not automatically provide a definitive final count due to delays in declaring missing persons dead.
Independent verification efforts are currently underway. Meduza and Mediazona confirmed they obtained access to the leaked data and have begun checking its authenticity and completeness. Their goal is to determine whether the materials are genuine and free from deliberate falsification, while also noting that medical documents listing causes of death do not always reflect actual circumstances. For context, the joint database of BBC News Russian Service and Mediazona, which lists identified dead servicemen by name, contained around 286,000 names as of 8 November. However, this list is acknowledged to be incomplete, particularly for recent months. A previous joint study by Meduza and Mediazona, based on inheritance registry data, estimated fallen Russian servicemen at roughly 350,000 by the end of 2025. While the hackers’ estimates align with these independent studies, journalists emphasize that confirmation of the leak’s authenticity does not yet prove the accuracy of every individual number within the dataset.
This report was produced in the Europe Brief News newsroom.
