More than 11,000 foreigners who fought for Russian Federation were liquidated in Ukraine - Bloomberg
During the war against Ukraine, Russia lost more than 11,000 foreign nationals who fought in its army. They came from nearly 100 countries around the world.
According to Censor.NET, Bloomberg reports this, citing data from the Rosstat database, which was hacked and leaked by Belarusian and Ukrainian hackers.
Nearly 100 countries: Where did Russia recruit foreign fighters from?
According to the publication, the number of foreign nationals who died has been rising every year. While approximately 630 such deaths were recorded in 2022, by 2025 the number had already exceeded 5,500.
About 3,700 of the deceased were Ukrainian citizens or were born on Ukrainian territory after the country declared independence in 1991. Most of them lived in the occupied territories in the east and south of the country.
Overall, about 80% of the foreign victims were from the former Soviet republics.
Journalists also noted a shift in the geography of Russian recruitment. In 2023–2024, many of the fatalities were citizens of Nepal. In 2024–2025, the number of fatalities from Sri Lanka and China increased.
Since late 2025, Russian statistics have shown an increase in the number of fatalities among citizens of Colombia, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The database contains no information on military personnel from North Korea who have died
According to Bloomberg, Rosstat's database contains no information about North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine.
The publication suggests that Russia did not issue death certificates for North Korean soldiers because they were part of foreign units rather than having joined the Russian army as individual soldiers.
The statistics also show that approximately 300 citizens of Germany have died. Most of them were born before 1992 in cities in East Germany, where Soviet—and later Russian—troops were stationed until 1994.
According to the publication, 99% of the foreign military personnel killed were men. The number of women killed was 159, of whom 154 were from the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Earlier, President Zelenskyy stated that there is currently a "window of opportunity" to end the war by 2027.
