russia’s rising losses: what funeral procurement reveals
Although russia tries to conceal its personnel losses in the war against Ukraine, statistics can still be tracked through documents that become publicly available.
▫️According to russian government procurement data, over the past six months, authorities in the udmurtia region have purchased around 700 funeral wreaths for soldiers, totaling 3.9 million rubles (about $45,000).
▫️According to unofficial russian sources, as of August 2024, 1,020 people from udmurtia had died in the so-called “special military operation.” This means that the region’s estimated losses over the past six months exceed half of all losses sustained during the previous two and a half years. This indicates an increase in the intensity of combat and the scale of hidden mobilization.
udmurtia — a small region that in 2024 accounted for less than 1% of russia’s total population, with ethnic — udmurts — making up only 30%. Thus, russia is not only draining the region’s labor force but also simultaneously reducing its indigenous population aiming to ultimately erase the udmurts as a people.
