The Russian city that lost almost all of its men to war

What are the chances of a Russia-Ukraine deal? In the fishing village of Sedanka, in Russia’s far east, life is difficult. Most homes do not have basic services, such as running water, indoor bathrooms and central heating, even with temperatures that often reach -10°C in the winter months. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp Surrounded by forest-tundra and marshy areas, the village center is only accessible from May to October by boats or tracked vehicles and, in winter, exclusively by snowmobile or helicopter. There are few local jobs, and most of the population lives from fishing and growing their own food. The dumps attract dangerous visitors, such as the Kamchatka brown bear, which is among the largest in the world. Still, Sedanka faces a more recent challenge. According to the residents themselves, almost all of Sedanka’s men aged between 18 and 55 left the place after joining Russia’s war in Ukraine. Vladimir Akeev, from the remote village of Sedanka in Russia’s far east, died four months after enlisting to fight in the war in Ukraine Government of Kamchatka/BBC ‘There is no one to chop wood’ “It’s heartbreaking — many of our people were killed,” says Natalia, a resident whose name has been changed for security reasons, in an interview with the BBC World Service. “My sister’s husband and my cousins ​​are on the front lines. In almost every family, there is someone fighting.” Located in the extreme northwest of the Kamchatka Peninsula, close to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, Sedanka is more than 7,000 km from the front lines in Ukraine. The American city of Anchorage, across the ocean, is about half that distance. Out of a total of 258 inhabitants, 39 men from the village signed contracts with Russia to fight in the war. Of these, 12 died and another seven are missing. “All our men left for the special military operation,” a group of women told the region’s governor, during a visit in March 2024, using the expression adopted by the Russian government to refer to the war in Ukraine. “There is no one to chop wood for the winter and heat our stoves,” they added, in a dialogue shown on state television. The BBC, together with the Russian website Mediazona and volunteer researchers, has so far verified that 40,201 Russian soldiers have died in 2025. According to our analysis, we estimate that the total number of confirmed deaths in 2025 will reach 80,000, which would make this the deadliest year for Russian losses in Ukraine since the start of the large-scale invasion, which began on 2/24/2022. This calculation takes into account obituaries that indicate 2025 as the year of death or burial, but this is data that has not yet been fully processed or cross-referenced. Confirmed deaths in 2024 now total 69,362 — a number approximately comparable to the sum of 2022 and 2023 —, and the curve has steepened since the end of 2024. Confirmations were made based on official communications and an inventory register — official record of cases opened after a person’s death —, as well as newspaper reports, publications on social networks made by family members or close friends and data from new memorials and tombs. In total, the BBC has so far identified 186,102 Russian soldiers killed in the conflict. The actual death toll is generally considered to be much higher, as many battlefield deaths go unrecorded. Military experts estimate that our analysis could represent between 45% and 65% of the total, which would place the potential number of Russian deaths between 286,000 and 413,500. Ukraine also suffered significant losses. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told French broadcaster France 2 that “officially” 55,000 Ukrainians had been killed on the battlefield. Furthermore, a “large number of people” are considered officially missing, he said, without giving an exact number. Based on estimates from sources such as the UA Losses website, whose data was cross-referenced by the BBC, we estimate that the number of Ukrainians killed could reach 200,000. Most of the Russians killed in the war have surnames of Slavic origin. But losses are disproportionately high among small indigenous groups, especially in economically disadvantaged areas of Siberia and the far east such as Sedanka. Sedanka is inhabited mainly by Koryaks and Itelmens — indigenous people who, under the rules in force during the war, can be exempt from mobilization. Anti-war activist Maria Vyushkova says Russian state television reinforces stereotypes that indigenous communities are “born warriors” and skilled shooters to encourage them to enlist in war. “Many indigenous communities are proud of this heritage as part of their identity. Russia uses this pride to recruit for war,” Vyushkova said. Among the Sedanka residents who joined the war was Vladimir Akeev, 45, a hunter and fisherman, who signed on with the Army in the summer of 2024. Four months later, he was killed in action. At the funeral in November 2024, people were only able to get to the cemetery by snowmobile, and Akeev’s coffin was transported on wide wooden sleds. Akeev’s coffin was transported on wooden sleds. Funeral participants were only able to reach the cemetery by snowmobile Government of Kamchatka/BBC In other regions, confirmed losses among indigenous people include 201 Nenets, 96 Chukchi, 77 Khanty, 30 Koryaks and seven Inuit. Among men ages 18 to 60, this represents approximately 2% of Chukchi, 1.4% of Russian Inuit, 1.32% of Koryak, and 0.8% of Khanty. Soldiers from poor regions BBC analysis shows that 67% of those killed are from rural areas and small towns — defined as those with less than 100,000 inhabitants — even though 48% of the Russian population lives in these places. The loss rate was lower in large cities. Moscow, the capital of Russia, recorded the lowest number of deaths per capita: five for every 10,000 men, or 0.05%. In poorer regions, such as Buryatia, in eastern Siberia, and Tuva, in southern Siberia, the mortality rate is, respectively, 27 and 33 times higher than in the capital. The main factor behind this difference between urban centers and rural areas is inequality in economic development, income and education, says demographer Alexey Raksha. As a result, soldiers from poorer regions and ethnic minorities account for a larger share of the army and deaths than their share of the total population, Raksha explained. Regions with a high proportion of losses already had lower life expectancy even before their men went to war, another Russian demographer told the BBC. “For many, the determining factor is not just poverty, but a lack of prospects — the feeling that there is nothing to lose,” he said. In Sedanka, a monument dedicated to the “participants of the special military operation” was opened in the fall of 2024. Last year, the regional government promised to grant the honorary title of “village of military value” in recognition of its men’s participation in the war. He also announced an assistance program for the families of the village’s military personnel. However, the village has not yet received the honorary title, nor has most of the support promised to soldiers’ families been delivered. The roofs of four soldiers’ homes were repaired after falling into a state of deterioration, but only after widespread coverage in the press. One in five houses built in the Soviet era was considered unsafe by the state. The only school in the village was considered by authorities to be in a state of emergency, with some walls at risk of collapsing. All of this was compounded by the loss of men of working age to Russia’s war in Ukraine. One in five houses in Sedanka, built in the Soviet era, was considered unsafe by the state Government of Kamchatka/BBC

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