Original subtitles

The Russian Defense Ministry last accounted for its casualties on September 21,

reporting 5,937 deaths. Based on open sources, the BBC was able to

ascertain the names of the 21,700 Russian servicemen buried in the war in Ukraine.

They have monitored open information and cemeteries in more than 65 Russian localities

over the past 14 months. Considering that there are more than 155,000 settlements in Russia.

A third of all casualties are those not previously associated

with the army - volunteers, mobilized, prisoners and newly recruited PMCs.

At the beginning of the invasion, Putin and his generals placed their bets on their own

elite forces, such as the Airborne Troops, Marine Infantry, GRU reconnaissance units,

Rosgvardiya special purpose units, and the army special forces. In the first months of the war

these units suffered the heaviest losses. For the first six months, the Russian generals constantly

sent the Spetsnaz into direct confrontations with the Ukrainian military, used them to hold the

front during retreats in the Kharkov region, and even to sweep the streets of Mariupol.

18% of all special forces killed were officers.

It takes at least four years to train a lieutenant with the appropriate qualifications.

And in order to lead a company, a lieutenant must gain experience and work his way up to captain,

which takes about four more years. That adds up to at least eight years of training.

Russia has lost at least 2,000 officers since the invasion began.

534 of them were at the rank of major and above. The loss of a large number of officers-especially

lieutenants and captains-has a significant impact on the combat effectiveness of the units.

It is junior officers in the Russian Army who usually decide exactly how the orders

given by the command will be carried out. Their decisions can save or destroy the

lives of dozens of soldiers and sergeants. It is junior officers who usually spend the most time

with the personnel of their units: teaching new recruits, conducting team building and training.

Those who came after the killed officers are much less prepared and experienced.

This, in turn, affects the level of training of volunteers and

mobilized men, as well as the quality of decisions made in the combat zone.

Among the identified dead are 139 military pilots. These are specialists in pieces,

which require at least $3 million and seven years of very difficult training.

Training one sniper pilot can take 15 to 17 years and cost $12-14 million.

Since May and June of last year, the main burden shifted to hastily recruited volunteer units.

It is the volunteer units - along with the motorized rifle units and

PMCs - continue to suffer the highest casualties in the past six months.

Volunteers often receive only three to seven days of training before being sent to the front.

Most of the dead in this category are men between the ages of 42 and 47.

According to survivors, they were often sent to the head-on assault of Ukrainian fortifications

without training or in a completely different specialty. And convicts recruited from prisons

into the "Wagner Group" serve as battering rams in the ongoing battles for Bakhmut.

Including the wounded, the total irretrievable losses of the Russian forces may exceed 263,000.