The Soviet Union suffered about 27 million losses in World War II, including both civilian and military losses from all war-related causes, although exact figures are disputed. A figure of 20 million was considered official during the Soviet era. The post-Soviet government of Russia puts the Soviet war losses at 26.6 million, on the basis of the 1993 study by the Russian Academy of Sciences, including people dying as a result of effects of the war. This includes 8,668,400 military deaths as calculated by Russia's Ministry of Defence.
The figures published by Russia's Ministry of Defence have been accepted by most historians outside Russia. However, the official figure of 8.7 million military deaths has been disputed by Russian scholars who believe that the number of dead and missing prisoners of war is not correct and new research is necessary to determine actual losses. Officials at Russia's Central Defense Ministry Archive (CDMA) maintain that their database lists the names of roughly 14 million dead and missing service personnel. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev stated in 2009 that more than 2.4 million people are still officially considered missing in action, and that of the 9.5 million persons buried in mass graves, 6 million are unidentified. Some Russian scholars put the total number of losses in the war, both civilian and military, at over 40 million. In 2020, Mikhail Meltyukhov, who works with the Russian federal archival project, stated that 15.9–17.4 million civilians were killed on Soviet territory by Germany and its allies during the war.
Summary of Russian sources The war-related deaths detailed in Russian sources are as follows:
The Krivosheev study listed 8,668,400 irreplaceable losses (from listed strength): 5,226,800 killed in action, 1,102,800 died of wounds in field hospitals, 555,500 non combat deaths, POW deaths and missing were 4,559,000. Deductions were 939,700 who "were encircled or missing in action in occupied areas who were reconscripted once areas liberated" and 1,836,000 prisoners of war (POWs) returned from captivity. The Krivosheev study listed 500,000 reservists captured by the enemy after being conscripted but before being taken on strength. Russian sources report 2,164,000 deaths as civilian "forced labor in Germany". Viktor Zemskov believed that these were actually military deaths not included in the Krivosheev report. Zemskov put the military death toll at 11.5 million. Convicts and deserters listed in the Krivosheev study. 994,300 (135,000 executed; 422,700 sent to penal units at the front and 436,600 imprisoned after sentencing) were sentenced by court martial and 212,400 were reported as deserters. They are not included with the 8,668,000 irreplaceable losses listed by Krivosheev. Russian sources list 7.420 million civilians killed in the war; these numbers do not include the siege of Leningrad (1,09 million dead). Sources cited for this figure are from the Soviet period. The figure of 7.4 million has been disputed by Viktor Zemskov who believed that the actual civilian death toll was at least 4.5 million. He maintained that the official figures included POWs, persons who emigrated from the country, persons evacuated during the war counted as missing as well as militia and partisan fighters. "Суммируя все вышеприведённые составляющие прямых гражданских потерь, к которым без всяких натяжек применим термин «жертвы войны», мы определяем их общее количество величиной, как минимум, 4,5 млн. человек." ["Summing up all the above components of direct civilian casualties, to which the term “war victims” applies without any stretch, we determine their total number of at least 4.5 million people."] Russian sources maintain that there were 4.1 million famine deaths in the regions occupied by Germany. Gulag prisoners. According to Viktor Zemskov "due to general difficulties in 1941–1945 in the camps, the GULAG and prisons about 1.0 million prisoners died. Deaths resulting from harsh conditions, like lack of food and medicine, on Soviet territory not occupied by the Germans were due to wartime shortages Anne Applebaum cites Russian sources that put the Gulag death toll from 1941 to 1945 at 932,000. Deportations of ethnic minorities. Russian sources put the death toll at 309,000. War-related deaths of those born during war – according to Andreev, Darski and Kharkova (ADK), there was an increase in infant mortality of 1.3 million.
Military losses
Krivosheev's analysis
In 1993, a report by Russia's Ministry of Defense, authored by a group headed by G. F. Krivosheev, detailed military casualties. Their sources were Soviet reports from the field and other archive documents that were secret during the Soviet era, including a secret Soviet General Staff report from 1966 to 1968. Krivosheev's study puts Soviet military dead and missing at 8.7 million and is often cited by historians. Krivosheev maintained that the figure of 8.668 million is correct because it excludes called up reservists that were never inducted, men who were duplicated as conscripts because they were conscripted again into the Soviet army and navy during the war as territories were being liberated and non-combat related causes. The statistic of 8.668 million military dead includes only the combat related deaths of the forces in the field units of the army and navy, and does not include civilian support forces in rear areas, conscripted reservists killed before being listed on active strength, militia units, and Soviet partisan dead, Krivosheev maintained that they should be included with civilian war losses.
+Soviet World War II military casualties in 1939–1945 by periodDead and missingWounded and sickBattle of Khalkhin Gol 19399,70315,952Invasion of Poland, 19391,4752,383Winter War 1939–40126,875264,908Invasion of Romania, 1940 2969World War II 1941–45 Includes 12,031 dead and missing in the Invasion of Manchuria8,668,40022,326,905(including 14,685,593 wounded and 7,641,312 sick)Total8,806,48222,610,217
The schedule below summarizes Soviet casualties from 1941 to 1945. +Military dead and missing (1941–45) by causeCauseEstimateKIA or died of wounds6,329,600Missing in action500,000Noncombat deaths of units at the front(sickness, accidents, etc.)555,500Died or killed while POW1,283,200Total irrecoverable losses (from listed strength)8,668,400
+Reconciliation of missing Missing in action 500,000 Missing later re-conscripted 940,000 POW deaths 1,283,000 POW returned to USSR1,836,000 Total reported missing 4,559,000
Krivosheev's analysis shows that 4,559,000 were reported missing (including 3,396,400 per field reports and an additional 1,162,600 estimated based on German documents), out of which 500,000 were missing and presumed dead, 939,700 were re-conscripted during the war as territories were liberated, 1,836,000 returned to the U.S.S.R. after the war, while the balance of 1,283,300 died in German captivity as POWs or did not return to the USSR. Krivosheev wrote: "According to German sources, 673,000 died in captivity. Of the remaining 1,110,300, Soviet sources indicate that over half also died in captivity". Sources published outside of Russia put total POW dead at 3.0 million. Krivosheev maintains that this figure based on German sources includes civilian personnel that were not included in the reports of the army and navy field forces. In a 1999 article, Krivosheev noted that after the war 180,000 liberated POWs did not return to the USSR and most likely settled in other countries, Krivosheev did not mention this in the English language translation of his study. According to declassified documents from the Soviet archives 960,039 surviving Soviet military POW were turned over to the Soviet authorities by the Western powers and 865,735 were released by the Soviet forces in territory they occupied.
+Reconciliation of Soviet forces 1941–1945 Description Balance Army & navy strength – June 1941 4,902,000 Drafted during war 29,575,000 Discharged during war (9,693,000) Army & navy strength in June 1945 (12,840,000) Losses of conscripted reservists 1941 not officially inducted (500,000) Subtotal: operational losses 11,444,000 Missing later re-conscripted (940,000) Liberated POW returned to USSR (1,836,000) Total losses 8,668,000
Discharged during war of 9,693,000 includes 3,798,200 sent on sick leave; 3,614,600 transferred to work in industry, anti-aircraft defense and armed guards; 1,174,600 sent to NKVD troops and organs; 250,400 transferred to Polish, Czechoslovak and Romanian armies; 436,600 imprisoned; 206,000 discharged; and 212,400 not found after deserting, detached from troop convoy or missing in military districts in the interior. During the war 422,700 men were sent to penal units at the front and not discharged.
The June 1945 force strength of 12,840,000 included 11,390,600 on active service; 1,046,000 in hospital; and 403,200 in civilian departments.
+Numbers of wounded & sick by categoryaccording to Military Medical Service Wounded Sick Total Total 14,685,593 7,641,312 22,326,905Of these: Discharged (3,050,733) (747,425)(3,798,158) Returned to duty(10,530,750) (6,626,493)(17,157,243) Died (also included in irrecoverable losses) (1,104,110) (267,394)(1,371,504)
+Casualties in 1941–1945 according to field reports Description Irrecoverable losses Wounded & sick Total losses 1941 3rd Q 2,129,677 687,626 2,817,303 1941 4th Q 1,007,996 648,521 1,656,517 1942 1st Q 675,315 1,179,457 1,854,772 1942 2nd Q 842,898 706,647 1,549,545 1942 3rd Q 1,224,495 1,283,062 2,507,557 1942 4th Q 515,508 941,896 1,457,404 1943 1st Q 726,714 1,425,692 2,152,406 1943 2nd Q 191,904 490,637 682,541 1943 3rd Q 803,856 2,060,805 2,864,661 1943 4th Q 589,955 1,567,940 2,157,895 1944 1st Q 570,761 1,572,742 2,143,503 1944 2nd Q 344,258 965,208 1,309,466 1944 3rd Q 510,790 1,545,442 2,056,232 1944 4th Q 338,082 1,031,358 1,369,440 1945 1st Q 557,521 1,594,635 2,152,156 1945 2nd Q 243,296 618,055 861,351 Campaign in Far East 12,031 24,425 36,456 Subtotal operational losses: army & navy 11,285,057 18,344,148 29,629,205 Add: losses border/internal service troops 159,100 Subtotal: operational losses 11,444,100 Less: missing later re-conscripted (939,700) Less: liberated POW returned to USSR (1,836,000) Total irrecoverable losses 8,668,400
Krivosheev's group estimated losses for the early part of the war, because from 1941 to 1942 no surrounded or defeated divisions reported their casualties.
Total wounded and sick includes 15,205,592 wounded, 3,047,675 sick and 90,881 frostbite cases. Included in the total of 11.444 million irrecoverable losses are 1,100,327 died of wounds in hospital.
Field reports stated the number of wounded and sick as 18,344,148, while the records of the military medical service show a total of 22,326,905. According to Krivosheev the difference can be explained by the fact that the medical service included sick personnel who did not take part in the fighting.
+Total losses by age group Age group Total losses % of total losses Under 20 years 1,560,000 18.0 21–25 1,907,000 22.0 26–30 1,517,000 17.5 31–35 1,430,200 16.5 36–40 1,040,200 12 41–45 693,500 8 46–50 433,400 5 over 50 years 86,700 1 All age groups 8,668,400 100
Criticism of Krivosheev's analysis
Krivosheev's analysis has been disputed by independent scholars in Russia. His critics maintain that he underestimated the number of missing in action and POW deaths and deaths of service personnel in rear area hospitals. Makhmut Gareev, former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, maintains that the published information on Soviet casualties is the work of the individual authors and not based on official data. According to Gareev the Russian government has not disclosed the actual losses in the war.Makhmut Gareev, Battles on the military historical front(in Russian), Moscow 2008. p.496