Aerial photographs show that Russian war graves are steadily expanding

Satellite images have shown that cemeteries are being expanded across Russia to make room for the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine. Recent estimates indicate that more than 70,000 Russian soldiers have died in the past two years.

On an empty plot of land next to the Bogorodskoye Cemetery in the Russian city of Ryazan, space has been allocated for more than two thousand new graves. The graves are dedicated to Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine, according to a video recorded in the cemetery at the end of last year.

Next to the soldiers' flower-covered graves are platforms of building materials, the same gray tiles that line newly constructed graves. The cemetery has plenty of room for expansion. The graves were placed on an unused plot of land in a satellite image taken before the war in April 2023, according to satellite images published this week by the American company Maxar. The number of graves continues to increase. In one year, nearly two dozen burial sites were added, photos from Planet show on Tuesday, February 27.

The forest was cleared to make room

From the air you can clearly see how Russia is burying its soldiers. At seven cemeteries in Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea, additional paths have been built in the past two years, graves dug, and sometimes forests cleared to retrieve the dead. The number of graves in a cemetery in Tula has more than quadrupled since October 2021, satellite images showed.

The graves are located near the places where Russian units known for their activity in Ukraine are stationed. Next to some graves in the Bogorodskoye cemetery, flies the flag of the Russian Army's 106th Airborne Division, an elite unit that was active in the Battle of Bakhmut, among others.

Satellite images prove that the war is also causing many casualties in Russia. Since the beginning of what it called a “special military operation,” the Kremlin has been vague about the number of soldiers killed on the Russian side. The last official death toll dates back to September 2022, when Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke of 5,937 deaths. Certainly the real death toll was much higher at the time.

In times of war, military leaders like to keep these types of personalities secret. Russia is not alone in this matter, nor is Ukraine generous with information. Last weekend, when the Russian invasion was commemorated two years ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that 31,000 soldiers had been killed on the Ukrainian side. He did not comment on the number of injured.

Independent research

Death notices on social media, excess death figures and inheritance cases provide clues to arrive at a more accurate estimate of the number of Russians killed. This is how independent Russian news sites came about mediazona And Medusa The death toll was estimated at about 75,000 at the beginning of this year. Researchers were able to identify the names of 44,654 Russian soldiers who were killed.

appreciation mediazona And Medusa It roughly corresponds to estimates by US and British intelligence services. If the numbers are correct, the number of Russian deaths in Ukraine is several times higher than in the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya.

Cemeteries for Russian soldiers were also established near the front, such as in Mikhailovsk in the Stavropol Province of southern Russia. A video from spring 2022 shows dozens of coffins decorated with flags of Russian airborne divisions. Just as in Bogorodskoye, the new wing of the cemetery is far from full. Plezhny Cemetery in Crimea has been expanded with three new blocks of graves since the beginning of the invasion.

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