For many years, Russia has been trying to seize the Ukrainian Donbas, but the end of these attempts is still far off. Despite slow progress through Ukrainian territory in the east of the country, the aggressor state is paying a horrific price for it, a price that should have long forced the Kremlin to halt the invasion if it weren’t so profoundly indifferent to the lives of its so-called heroes.
Over the past year and a half alone, two Russian motorized rifle divisions have lost about seven thousand personnel as missing in action. Their name lists are published on the resources of the project of the DIU of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, "I Want to Live": the total losses are significantly higher.
After 8 years of hybrid warfare in eastern Ukraine, Russia has been trying to occupy the Ukrainian Donbas in an open, full-scale format for almost four years. As before February 2022, it has not been very successful. However, the losses sustained by the aggressor since then have become incomparably higher.
"In almost four years since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army has changed numerous tactics – from attacks with endless columns of equipment to assaults on motorcycles and infantry marches. But what remains unchanged is the complete indifference to human losses on the part of the Russian Armed Forces command," – noted in "I Want to Live."
The project published a list of those missing in action for the period from the beginning of 2024 to June 2025, covering servicemen from just two Russian units – the 150th and 20th Motorized Rifle Divisions, which are part of the 8th Combined Arms Army.
The list – far from complete – includes only those whose relatives were granted decisions on financial compensation. Even with this limitation, over the past year and a half, a total of 6,921 servicemen from just these two Russian divisions have gone missing. Among them are at least 316 foreigners," – noted in "I Want to Live," adding that in the document published on the project’s resources, the names of foreign mercenaries are highlighted in yellow.
"Comparing these data with the losses of the 41st Combined Arms Army, where the number of killed was three-quarters of the number of missing, it can be assumed that over 17 months, the 150th and 20th Divisions lost over 12,000 personnel killed and missing. If we rely on an extremely conservative ratio of three wounded for every one killed, the number of wounded could exceed 36,000," – suggested in the project.
The "record holder" for the highest personnel losses is the 102nd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division: here, 1,858 individuals are listed as missing in action – considering that the standard strength of a regiment within a motorized rifle division in the Russian army ranges from 1,800 to 2,000 personnel.
"This means that the 102nd Regiment has been completely wiped out in terms of missing in action alone. Taking into account the killed, deserters, prisoners of war, wounded, and losses in 2022-2023, it is likely that the regiment’s personnel has been replaced 3-4 times," – concluded in "I Want to Live."
The "second place" for missing in action is held by the 103rd Regiment of the same division, with 806 missing.
The 68th Tank Regiment and the 163rd Tank Regiment of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division lost 390 and 672 personnel as missing in action, respectively.
Five individuals from the command of the 150th Division have also been added to the lists of those missing without a trace.
The situation in the 20th Motorized Rifle Division is similar – 3,177 missing in action.
The highest number – 795 personnel – is in the 57th Motorized Rifle Regiment. The 255th Regiment lost 769 personnel, the 33rd Motorized Rifle Regiment – 464. The 10th Tank Regiment has 439 missing in action.
Twenty-four of the missing were aged 18-19. The oldest – Musaev Magomed Zulfikarovich – was 65 years old.
"Russians and foreign mercenaries come to Ukraine to seize land for Putin, but they find only death here," – summarized in "I Want to Live."