September 28, 2023

There Is Only Death There


There Is Only Death There
Russian tanks abandoned in the retreat from Izyum.  Ukrinform TV, Wikimedia Commons

A recent study has revealed that a significant portion of the Russian conscripts mobilized for service in Ukraine faced tragically short lifespans in the conflict zone.

Vazhnye Istorii and the Conflict Intelligence Team conducted an analysis of obituaries of Russian military personnel. Their conclusion was that, on average, Russian conscripts met their demise in Ukraine after only four and a half months of service. What's more, every fifth conscript did not survive longer than two months.

The study cataloged approximately three thousand mobilized individuals who lost their lives in the conflict. Notably, this data accounts only for deaths confirmed through obituaries, implying that the actual casualty count is likely higher than reported.

Despite promises from Russian authorities regarding proper training for those called up for front-line duty, experts observed that the first major casualties began to occur in the fall, mere days after the mobilization announcement. For instance, 23-year-old Vadim Bulatov from Chelyabinsk Oblast passed away on October 8, only nine days after being mobilized. Experts suggest that some of these conscripts were thrust unprepared into intense combat situations in Luhansk Oblast, where Russian command urgently sought to stem a Ukrainian advance.

The research also highlights that individuals over 30 were hardest hit; over half of the recorded casualties befell men aged 30 to 45 years old. The youngest mobilized individual was 19 and the oldest 62.

The researchers also revealed that Sverdlovsk Oblast, in the Ural Mountains, bore the brunt of casualties. Additionally, numerous “funerals” were dispatched to regions such as Buryatia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Samara and Volgograd Oblasts.

According to Russian officials, some 300,000 reservists were called up during a mobilization that began in September 2022.

You Might Also Like

To Stay and Survive
  • August 15, 2023

To Stay and Survive

A filmmaker Elizaveta spent months riding Russia’s rails and discussing the war with fellow travelers.
Lords of War
  • August 10, 2023

Lords of War

New report details how Russian oligarchs are recruiting "volunteers" for Russia's War on Ukraine.
Let it Go, Let it Go
  • December 30, 2022

Let it Go, Let it Go

Russian men mobilized to fight in Russia's War on Ukraine will be able to freeze and store their sperm for free.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955