The Russian Defense Ministry has acknowledged the deaths of only 1,351 servicemen since the start of the war against Ukraine. And, as it turned out, in these losses, every fifth soldier killed was an officer.
This was reported by the BBC Russian Service.
According to the newspaper, the names of at least 1,083 killed servicemen are published in the Russian official sources. The BBC has learned that 217 of the 1,083 servicemen killed were officers from a junior lieutenant to a general. That is 20 percent of all servicemen in the list of confirmed losses of the Russian army.
At the same time, such a high number of officers in the losses does not mean that every fifth Russian killed on the battlefield was an officer. As Samuel Crenney-Evans of Britain's Royal Institute for Defence and Security Studies noted, Russian military tradition suggests that the bodies of fallen commanders are sent home as a priority.
"In past conflicts, the Russian military paid more attention to evacuating the bodies of fallen officers. And lower-ranking military officers have received less attention after their deaths. That said, officers do form the backbone of the Russian armed forces," the expert said.
As of today, the lists of recognized losses include 10 colonels, 20 lieutenant colonels, 31 majors and 155 junior officers. Ukraine claims the death of seven Russian generals, but Russia confirmed only the death of Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky.
As a reminder, according to the General Staff of the AFU, the total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 06.04 are estimated at about 18,600 personnel only.