The actual number of Russian fatalities is almost certainly significantly higher, as the investigation relied on openly available data, such as obituaries in newspapers and on social media. The journalists also tracked the growing number of fresh graves at Russian cemeteries. According to their data, more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died in the second year of the invasion. The total number of deaths—over 50,000—is eight times higher than the casualties officially reported by Moscow in September 2022. “In the second 12 months on the battlefield, as Moscow pushed its so-called ‘meat grinder str…