Russian deputy defence minister Anna Tsivilyova has unintentionally shared figures relating to missing soldiers likely killed in the Ukraine war.
During a round-table discussion on November 26, Tsivilyova, the daughter of a cousin of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, revealed that 48,000 relatives of Russian troops had submitted DNA samples in reference to efforts to identify missing soldiers via their remains.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs takes [DNA] absolutely free of charge at their own expense and enters into its database all the relatives who have applied to us. I’ve already said 48,000,” Tsivilyova said during the discussion.
Russia and Ukraine have consistently concealed their military casualty numbers, recognising that such figures could reveal either side’s progress in the conflict and each nation’s military capacity. Tsivilyova’s reported data could provide external observers with valuable insights into Russian losses.
After her comments, defence committee chief Andrei Kartapolov, also present at the discussion, reprimanded her and pleaded that the number not be used elsewhere.
“Anna Yevgenyevna [Tsivilyova] has mentioned figures here, including missing persons. I earnestly ask you not to use these figures anywhere. This is such sensitive, closed information.”
“And when we draw up the final documents, we should not include these figures anywhere,” he said.
Unfortunately for the Russian Government, the discussion was being live-streamed publicly on the website of the Russian parliament.
Afterwards, the video was pulled offline but it has already been shared on social media.
Putin's niece accidentally revealed the approximate number of missing Russian soldiers.
Russian authorities have received 48,000 applications for DNA tests to find missing Russian soldiers. This was announced in Russia's Duma by Russian Deputy Defense Minister, Anna Tsivilyova,… pic.twitter.com/Fp3d9jUL0D
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) December 4, 2024
In her defence, Tsivilyova said: “I didn’t give the numbers of missing people but the number of requests to us. Many of them will be found. So this number is specifically requests, not data.”
Western observers have consistently claimed that Russia has suffered much higher losses than Ukraine, something that has been attributed to Ukrainians having better military equipment among other things.
Based on a wide array of open-source intelligence such as video evidence, satellite images, social media posts and more difficult-to-obtain information such as internal communications, troop movements and equipment losses, intelligence professionals try to estimate losses on both sides.
On December 3, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied claims by Western media that 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, stating the actual number was “significantly lower” without providing specifics.
According to a recent report by The Economist, an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died, with an additional 400,000 wounded and rendered unfit for combat.
A US estimate from October 2024 suggested more than 115,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and approximately 500,000 wounded. An earlier estimate from Meduza in June 2024 focused specifically on fatalities, putting the number of Russian soldiers to have perished at 120,000.
Russia has claimed that a new US ballistic missile base in Redzikowo, northern Poland, increases the level of nuclear danger and that it is a prime target in any possible Russian attack. https://t.co/mEsxDY67Jz
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 21, 2024
