"Russian Military Corpses Piled Up by Hundreds"... Is the Official Russian Death Toll of '498' Accurate?

Ukraine Uses AI and Social Media to Identify Russian War Dead

Destroyed Russian army tank in the Sumy region of Ukraine.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] As Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches four weeks, the thawing Ukrainian soil is revealing the bodies of Russian soldiers buried in various places.

According to CNN on the 23rd (local time), Vitalii Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, requested residents on the 19th to collect the bodies of Russian soldiers as temperatures rose above freezing. This is intended to send the bodies back to Russia for identification. However, it remains uncertain whether these remains can actually be repatriated to Russia.

In an interview with CNN, he said, "As the Russian army retreated, they left their comrades on the battlefield," adding, "There are hundreds of bodies scattered throughout the region."

However, Russian authorities claim that the number of casualties and wounded is not significant. As of the 21st, Russia announced 498 deaths among its troops.

On the same day, the pro-government Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda cited the Russian Ministry of Defense, reporting that 9,681 Russian soldiers had died and 16,153 were wounded. The article was soon deleted, and the media outlet explained that their website had been hacked, resulting in inaccurate information being posted.

The casualty figures disclosed by the outlet are similar to the minimum estimates made by U.S. intelligence agencies last week. At that time, U.S. authorities estimated that at least 7,000 Russian soldiers had died in combat. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also reported that approximately 15,000 Russian soldiers had died as of the 21st.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia. / Photo by Yonhap News

On the 19th, The Telegraph, citing reports from Radio Free Europe and others, reported that the bodies of fallen Russian soldiers were transported at night through Gomel, a southeastern city in Belarus near Ukraine, en route to their homeland.

A doctor at a local hospital in Gomel claimed, "By March 13, over 2,500 bodies had been transported from Ukraine to the Gomel area, then loaded onto trains and planes to be moved to Russia."

Additionally, a resident of Mazyr, a nearby city to Gomel, said, "There were an unbelievable number of bodies in the morgue, and passengers at the Mazyr train station were shocked by the number of bodies loaded onto the trains."

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched a website (200rf.com) and a Telegram channel, consistently posting photos and identification cards of Russian soldiers who have died or been captured. They are actively utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and other social media platforms.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated on Facebook, "Using photos of Russian soldiers' bodies, we are employing AI to find profiles on social media," adding, "This aims to shatter the (Russian) myth of a 'special military operation with no conscript involvement and no deaths.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.