The Ukraine war in numbers: People, territory, money

EXPLAINER News | Russia-Ukraine war The Ukraine war in numbers: People, territory, money Four years into Russia’s grinding war on Ukraine, Al Jazeera looks at the costs — to people, territory and treasuries. Listen to this article | 9 mins By John T Psaropoulos Published On 23 Feb 2026 23 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media Share Save It’s Europe’s biggest war since World War II. It’s also Russia’s deadliest war since that conflict. And it has reshaped the global economy — with Moscow facing the most sanctions that any country has ever encountered. As Russia’s war on Ukraine completes four years on February 24, Al Jazeera takes stock of what has been lost — the people, territory and the money spent. People Casualty numbers — fatalities and those injured and possibly incapacitated — vary widely, with Russia and Ukraine both presenting figures that amplify the losses of their enemies and downplay their own losses. Still, their contrasting numbers offer a sense of the scale of death and devastation. Russia’s war in Ukraine is estimated to have caused roughly two million military casualties in all. Ukraine’s General Staff estimated that some 418,000 Russian troops were killed or wounded last year, bringing total Russian casualties for the war to just over 1.25 million. The Center for Strategic and International Studies last month agreed, estimating that Russia had suffered 1.2 million casualties, including at least 325,000 deaths, from the beginning of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022 until December 2025. Ukraine estimated an additional 31,680 Russian casualties in January 2026. “These numbers are extraordinary. No major power has suffered anywhere near these numbers of casualties or fatalities in any war since World War II,” said the CSIS in its report. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month said 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the entire war. Advertisement The CSIS estimated Ukraine had suffered up to 600,000 casua...