World War II casualties of the Soviet Union

World War II casualties of the Soviet Union from all related causes were over 20,000,000, both civilians and military, although the statistics vary to a great extent largely because these figures are currently disputed. During the Soviet era information on casualties was considered top secret, later in the Glasnost period information on Soviet World War II casualties was published. In 1993 a study by the Russian Academy of Sciences estimated total Soviet population losses due the war at 26.6 million,   including  military dead of 8.7 million calculated by the Russian Ministry of Defense. These figures have been accepted by most historians outside of Russia. However the figure of 8.7 million military dead has been disputed by some historians in Russia because it is in conflict with the official database of the Central Defense Ministry Archive (CDMA) which lists the names of roughly 14 million dead and missing servicemen. Some independent researchers in Russia have put total losses in the war, both civilians and military, at over 40 million. This article covers the details of the Russian government sources as well as a presentation of sources disputing these figures.



Krivosheev's analysis


A 1993 Russian Ministry of Defense report authored by a group headed by general G. I. Krivosheev detailed Soviet military casualties in World War II. The sources for their analysis were Soviet reports from the field and other archive documents that were secret during the Soviet era, including a secret Soviet General Staff report from 1966-1968. Krivosheev's study which puts Soviet military dead and missing at 8.7 million is often cited by historians. However Krivosheev's analysis has been disputed by some independent researchers in Russia (see section below on criticism of Krivosheev).

The schedules below summarize Krivosheev's analysis.

Source of Figures:G. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4 Pages 51–97

The Schedule below summarizes Soviet casualties from 1941-1945. Source of Figures:G. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4 Pages 85–97 and G. I. Krivosheev Rossiia i SSSR v voinakh XX veka: Poteri vooruzhennykh sil ; statisticheskoe issledovanie OLMA-Press, 2001 ISBN 5-224-01515-4 page 237

Source of Figures: G. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4 Pages 85–97

Krivoshhev wrote ''According to German sources 673,000 died in captivity. Of the remaining 1,110,300, Soviet sources indicate that over half also died captivity''. He also noted that according to German records on May 1, 1944 823,230 Soviet POW had been released for service in Germany industry (concentration camps) and 877,980 were held in OKW POW camps. By January 1945 930,287 were held in POW camps and 750,000 were working in Germany industry (concentration camps).

The report of G. I. Krivosheev shows that of all the men serving in the military during the war, there were about 4,559,000 reported missing (including 3,396,400 per field reports and an additional 1,162,600 estimated by Krivosheev), out of which 500,000 were missing and presumed dead, 939,700 were conscripted back into the Soviet army during the war as territories were being liberated, 1,836,000 returned to the U.S.S.R. after the war, remaining balance of 1,103,300 died in German captivity as POW or while in German service. In a 1999 article Krivosheev noted that 2,016,000 POW survived the war, of which 1,836,000 POWs are known to have returned to the U.S.S.R. after the war and another 180,000 liberated POWs who most likely emigrated to other countries. This does not agree with Krivosheev's figure of 2.5 million POW dead listed in his separate analysis of POWs published in 2001.



Discharged during war of 9,693,000 includes( sent on sick leave 3,798,200; transferred to work in industry, anti-aircraft defense and armed guards 3,614,600; sent to NKVD troops and organs 1,174,600; transferred to Polish, Czechoslovak and Romanian armies 250,400; imprisoned 436,600; discharged 206,000; missing in rear areas 212,400)

Red Army & Navy strength- June 1945 12,840,000 includes (11,390,600 on active service; in hospital 1,046,000; in civilian departments 403,200)

Source of Figures:G. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4 Pages 85–97

Source of Figures:G. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4 Page 89

Source of Figures:G. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4 Pages 85–97

Krivosheev's group estimated losses for the early part of the war, because in the crucial period of 1941-1942 no surrounded or defeated divisions sent any reports on their casualties, the field reports from that period regarded by military historians as being unreliable.

Total wounded and sick includes: Wounded 15,205,592; Sick 3,047,675; Frostbite cases 90,881

According to the field reports the number of wounded and sick was 18,344,148, however the records of the military medical service show a total of 22,326,905. According to Krivosheev the difference can be explained by the fact that the sick and wounded figures of the medical service include sick personnel who did not take part in the fighting.



Total losses by age group according to Krivosheev

Source:G. I. Krivosheev Rossiia i SSSR v voinakh XX veka: Poteri vooruzhennykh sil ; statisticheskoe issledovanie OLMA-Press, 2001 ISBN 5-224-01515-4 Page 236

Criticism of Krivosheev


Krivosheev's analysis has generally been accepted by historians, however his study has been disputed by some independent researchers in Russia.

The main points of the criticism of Krivosheev are as follows:

POW deaths
Krivosheev's analysis puts Soviet military POW dead at about 1.1 million, however most estimates by Western historians for Soviet prisoners of war deaths is about 3 million out of 5.7 million total POW's in German hands. Russian researcher Vadim Erlikman puts Soviet military dead at 10.6 million; he maintains that Soviet military casualties should also include the deaths of an additional estimated 1,500,000 conscripted reservists captured before being listed on active strength as well as draft age men treated as military POW by Germany, also about 150,000 militia and 250,000 Soviet partisan dead. However, according to Krivosheev the figure of 3.0 million POW dead probably includes partisans, militia, and many civilian men of military age taken as POW, they are considered civilian deaths in his figures. According to S. A. Il’enkov, Krivosheev's analysis obviously conflicts with the Russian Military Archives database of individual war dead, which still lists over 7 million missing soldiers and sergeants alone, as well as opinions of the highest ranking Russian officials.

Lopukhovsky and Kavalerchik dispute Krivoshhev's analysis of POW dead. According to the reconciliation of Krivosheev's figures by Lopukhovsky and Kavalerchik 4,059,000 were taken as POW, 939,700 were later liberated during the war and drafted again; 1,836,000 were liberated after the war; 180,000 emigrated after the war, 1,023,230 were released during the war by the Germans' less (159,000) escaped and 239,100 were dead as POW(5.9%). It should be pointed out that the figure of 239,100 Soviet POW dead does not appear in Krivoshev's book. This figure was derived by Lopukhovsky and Kavalerchik. In fact Krivoshhev wrote ''According to German sources 673,000 died in captivity. Of the remaining 1,110,300, Soviet sources indicate that over half also died captivity''.

Reconciliation of persons conscripted
In 2000 the late Dr. S. N. Mikhalev of the History department of Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University published a critical analysis of the official Russian wartime casualty statistics, From 1989 to 1996 Mikhalev was an associate of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defence. Mikalev estimated actual Soviet military war dead at more than 10.9 million persons. He maintained that the official figures cannot be reconciled to the total men drafted and that POW deaths were understated. Mikhalev believed that the official figure of 26.6 million war dead should not be regarded as definitive. In 1995 the Russian Academy of Science published his analysis of the demographic balance of the USSR in the war that indicated total losses ranging from 21.240 million to 25.854 million, with the mid range being 23.568 million total war dead. Mikhalev pointed out that the figures for total war deaths are based on a range of possible estimates for the pre-war population in 1939 and the population of the that are by no means certain.

The following schedule shows the reconciliation of losses of the field reports to the actual number of mobilized persons

Notes:

A. Strength Red Army June 1941- Mikhalev excludes Construction troops whose casualties were not included in the field reports. B. Drafted during war -Excludes those drafted twice. C.Discharged during war-Includes those sent on sick leave, those sent to industry, NKVD or foreign units and 437,000 imprisoned after sentencing D. Red Army strength June 1945-Mikhalev excludes 403,000 Construction troops whose casualties were not included in the field reports and 437,000 imprisoned after sentencing already deducted in number of discharged E.Conscripted reservists captured in 1941 before being listed on active strength. Mikhalev maintains that they were a military operational losses that should be included with total casualties F. MIA Re-conscripted were men conscripted back into the Soviet army during the war as territories were being liberated. Mikhalev maintains that they should not be deducted because were included in the Red Army strength in June 1945 and that the number conscripted excludes those drafted twice. G.NKVD & Border Troops -Mikhalev adds these losses to the total because they were not part of the Red Army balance in June 1945. H.Losses in the Far East August 1945- Mikhalev adds these losses to the total because they were not part of the Red Army balance in June 1945

Russian Military Archives database of individual war dead
The analysis of Krivosheev and Mikhalev is based on the field reports of the Red Army and the reconciliation of the balance for persons conscripted. An alternative method to determine Soviet war losses is the Russian Military Archives database of individual war dead. S. A. Il’enkov, an official of the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense writing in the Journal of Slavic Military Studies, maintained that "complex military situation at the front did not always allow for the conduct of a full accounting of losses." He pointed out that reports from the field units did not include deaths in rear area hospitals of wounded personnel. Il’enkov maintains that the information in the Russian Military Archives alphabetical card-indexes can assist in solving the problem of determining the total number of Soviet military war dead. In an article published by the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense Il’enkov described the work of the archives to reconcile database of individual war dead. He believes the work has progressed to the point where we can determine an accurate accounting of war losses. Il’enkov concluded by stating "We established the number of irreplaceable losses of our Armed Forces at the time of the Great Patriotic War of about 13,850,000. A more recent compilation made in March 2008 of the individuals listed in the card files puts total dead and missing at 14,241,000 (13,271,269 enlisted men and 970,000 officers) This database is incomplete and does not include all men killed in the war; currently graves registration teams in Russia are identifying war dead that are not currently included in the database.

Historical revisionism in Russia
Some researchers in Russia dispute the official figures of 8.7 million military dead and the total population loss of 26.6 million. These critics base their arguments on their own analysis of documents in the Soviet archives and on alternative demographic models of the Soviet population during the Stalin era. They maintain that the Russian government should conduct new investigations on losses suffered in the war.


 * Viktor Zemskov Russian scholar Viktor Zemskov disputes the official figures (официальных данных), he maintains that the total demographic population loss due to the war was 20 million persons, including 16 million direct losses and 4 million deaths due to the deterioration in the living conditions of wartime. According to Victor Zemskov the figure issued by the Russian Academy of Science of 26.6 million total war dead includes about 7 million deaths due to natural causes based on the Mortality rate that prevailed before the war. Zemskov maintains that the figure 8.7 million military dead issued by Krivosheev was in fact false (на самом деле была недостоверной,). Zemskov believes that actual military dead were 11.5 million persons including nearly 4 million prisoners of war. Zmeskov maintains that the figure of 6.8 million civilian deaths in the occupied regions issued by the  government's Extraordinary State Commission was overstated because they included persons who were evacuated to the rear areas. He maintains that the correct total is 4.5 million civilians who were victims of the Nazis or killed in the fighting in the area under German occupation. Zemskov also believes that the government figure of 2.1 million civilian deaths due to forced labor in Germany is not correct based on German wartime records that put the actual deaths of forced workers at 200,000.

According to Ivlev there were 38.5 million war dead ( 20.5 million military; 6.7 million civilians murdered by the Nazis, 2.7 million civilians killed by work in Germany and 8.5 million civilians who died of Death by natural causes ) Ivlev's figures were published in "Military History Archive", 2012, № 9, p. 41-58, Available online In Ivlev's analysis 8.5 million persons in the ADK figures who hypothetically would have died in the war due to natural causes were actually war dead. Ivlev maintains that the 11,9 million natural deaths were arbitrarily subtracted by Andrev,Darski and Kharkova (ADK) and that this deduction from the total is a "trick" to lower the figure of war dead.
 * Washed in Blood A study published in Russia (Umylis  krovu, Washed in Blood) by Igor Pykhalov; L. N. Lopukhovskiĭ; Viktor Zemskov; Igor Ivlev and Boris Kavalerchik has disputed the official figures for Soviet war casualties, they maintain the actual losses 2 — 2.5 times more than of Krivosheev's figure of 8.7 million. Igor Ivlev, director of Archangelsk-city State Social Memorial Center "Poisk", based on his analysis of documentation from the Soviet era puts total Soviet losses in the war at 38.5 million persons including military dead of 20.58 million and 18 million civilians. Ivlev's calculations are presented on the internet site which he hosts www.soldat.ru. He maintains that the official figures are understated and that the Russian government should conduct new investigations on war losses. The data was based on death or missed in action notifications, unclaimed personal bank deposits, front and rear hospital reports, Communist Party and Young Communist League membership files, the 1946 Soviet electorate population and the gap between men and women prior and after the War. These sources reveal military losses exceeding those of Krivosheev's report by 2 — 2.5 times. The main points of Igor Ivlev's analysis are as follows:. The total demographic losses of the Soviet male population capable for military service is 20,580,000. A reconciliation of men drafted indicates 19.4 to 19.7 million dead and missing military personnel. The card files in the Russian Archives contains the names of 16.7 million dead and missing, in addition Ivlev maintains that 1.75 million missing and 1.0 to 1.2 million who died of wounds in rear area hospitals are not included in the  Russian archives card files. According to Ivlev's analysis the list of Soviet electorate voters for February 10, 1946 indicates a gap of 22.7 million males. According to Ivlev the personal records of those soldiers drafted before and during the war were reportedly destroyed under a secret order of the Soviet Defense Ministry soon after Stalin’s death in 1953 and most war draft related documents are still classified.


 * Lev Lopukhovsky and Boris Kavalercik-Russian military historians Lev Lopukhovsky and Boris Kavalercik maintain Krivosheev's understatement of military casualties and their transfer to civilian losses as "ingratitude and blasphemy over their cherished memory." They condemn what they consider the deliberate reduction of the losses of the armed forces of the Soviet Union by Krivosheev, they have demanded that the Russian government conduct new investigations on losses suffered in the war. According to Lev Lopukhovsky and Boris Kavalerchik Krivosheev's group kept maintaining: no reports — no losses. And in the most crucial period of 1941-1942 no surrounded or defeated units sent any reports on their casualties. They simply disappeared with their servicemen, arms, documents and the banner. Krivosheev's analysis also ignored reinforcements that often outnumbered the initial personnel of a unit. As a result the real irrecoverable casualties of the North-Western Front in 1941, for example, are 2.8 times bigger, than in Krivisheev's book (507,703 : 182,264).  Krivosheev adds only 1,162,600 dead to compensate for "no reports" situation of 1941 and his irrecoverable losses for 1941 diminish the official Soviet figures for that year by 2.16 million: from 5,300,000 to 3.137.673 (but he maintains 6.3 million firearms were lost). In Moscow winter offensive his irrecoverable Soviet casualties and lost firearms stand at 1 : 7.9.  There are official Soviet figures of military casualties in 1941, i.e. 5,3 million dead, captured and missing. Later general Krivosheev diminished them by more than two million to 3,137,673, he maintains that they were civilians taken as POW by the Germans . The Extraordinary State Commission has revealed 3,912,283 Soviet POWs killed by the Germans in the USSR alone,


 * Boris Sokolov -In 1996 Boris Sokolov a Russian academic published a study that estimated total war dead at 43.3 million including 26.4 million in the military. Sokolov’s own calculations show that the official figures for population in 1941 to be understated by 12.7 million and the population in 1946 to be overstated by 4.0 million, thus resulting in 16.7 million additional war dead bringing the total to 43.3 million. Sokolov's analysis of Soviet war losses has been published in the Journal of Slavic Military Studies. The Russian demographer Dr. L. L. Rybakovsky dismissed these hypothetical calculations and believes they are not based on sound judgment.


 * V. E. Korol-Writing in the Journal of Slavic Military Studies V. E. Korol estimated overall Soviet war dead at 46 million persons including military dead of 23 million. He maintains that the official figure of 8.7 million military war dead was “groundless” based the actual accounts, cited by Korol, of the individual battles on the eastern front, Korol maintains that these solid sources are more than sufficient, and it is practically impossible to refute them. V. E. Korol believes that the official figures of Krivosheev are an attempt to cover up the disregard for human life by the military leaders under Stalin’s totalitarian system . Korol cites Soviet authors writing during the Glasnost era that put wartime losses much higher than the official figures; In 1990 General I. A. Gerasimov published information from the Russian Military Archives database of individual war dead and missing that put losses at 16.2 million enlisted men and 1.2 million officers. Krol also cited historian-archivist Iu. Geller who put total Soviet war dead at losses at 46 million including military dead of 23 million. and A.N. Mertsalov writing in the Journal Voprosy Istorii(Questions of History)  estimating 14 million military dead based on documents  in the Russian Military Archives.


 * Hypothetical population loss for children unborn due to the war-Some Russian writers have argued that war losses should also include the hypothetical population loss for children unborn due to the war, using this methodology total losses would be about 46 million.

Total number of male war dead
The study by Andreev, Darski and Karkova (ADK) put total Soviet population losses at 26.6 million, the authors did not dispute Krivoshev's report that put military dead at 8.7 million, however according to the study total war deaths were 20.1 million males and 6.6 million females, a difference of 13.5 million more males. In mid-1941there were 8.3 million more females in the Soviet population, by 1946 this gap was 22.8 million more females than males, an increase of 13.5 million. The study by Krivoshev put the number of persons who served military from 1941-1945 at 34.4 million and the war dead and missing at 8.7 million, 25% of the total in service. According to David Glantz the Red Army conscripted men well under the age of 18 years and exceeding the age of 55 years. In the study by (ADK) the number of males in the age groups from 18 to 55 is 57 million and the total excess war dead 16.7 million. In the age groups 18 to 55 about 23 million men did not serve during the war, yet there 8 million were excess war dead, 35% of the men in this age group not in military service

Rebuttal by Krivosheev
In 2002 G.F. Krivosheev, author of the 1993 official study of military casualties, defended the results of his report that found 8.668 million military war dead. Krivosheev maintains that the figures were derived in a scientific manner by a team of professional researchers who had access to the military archives. He also maintains that the results of the study reflect a realistic view of casualties based on the military operational situation during the war. Krivosheev believes that the Central Archives data base of individual war dead is not reliable because some personnel records are duplicated and others omitted

Civilian losses




In 1995 a paper published by the Russian Academy of Science M. V. Philimoshin put the civilian death toll in the regions occupied by Germany at 13.7 million. Philimoshin cited sources from Soviet era to support his figures, he used the terms "genocide" and "premeditated extermination" when referring to deaths of 7.4 million civilians in the occupied USSR caused by the direct, intentional actions of violence. Civilians killed in reprisals during the Soviet partisan war account for a major part of the huge toll. The report of Philimoshin lists the deaths of civilian forced laborers in Germany totaling 2,164,313. G. I. Krivosheev in the report on military casualties gives a total of 1,103,300 POW dead. The total of these two figures is 3,267,613, which is in close agreement with estimates by western historians of about 3 million deaths of prisoners in German captivity. In the occupied regions Nazi Germany had a policy of forced confiscation of food that resulted in the famine deaths of an estimated 6% of the population, 4.1 million persons.

According to M. V. Philimoshin there were in addition to the above losses civilian deaths during the Siege of Leningrad; 641,000 due to starvation and 17,000 killed by artillary fire. Also these figures do not include an additional 451,100 persons who did not return to the USSR after 1946.

Source: The figures for civilian losses are taken from a report published by the Russian Academy of Science Human Losses of the USSR in the Period of WWII: Collection of Articles (In Russian). Saint-Petersburg, 1995. ISBN 978-5-86789-023-0 -M. V. Philimoshin of the War Ministry of the Russian Federation About the results of calculation of losses among civilian population of the USSR and Russian Federation 1941-1945 Pages 124-131


 * Russian sources generally include Jewish Holocaust deaths with total civilian dead. Martin Gilbert puts Jewish losses at one million within the borders of 1939; Holocaust deaths in the annexed territories there were an additional 1.5 million deaths bringing the total Jewish losses in Soviet territory to 2.5 million.


 * Soviet civilian losses include deaths in the siege of Leningrad. David Glantz has noted that Soviet era sources put the number of dead in the Siege of Leningrad at “greater than 800,000” and that a Russian source from 2000 put the number of dead at 1,000,000. However, other Russian historians have put the death toll in the siege of Leningrad at between 1.4 and 2.0 million persons.


 * These figures are for the regions of the USSR occupied by Germany with a population of about 70 million persons.
 * These casualties are for 1941-1945 within the 1946-1991 borders of the USSR. Included with civilian losses are deaths in the territories annexed by the USSR in 1939-1940 including 600,000 in the Baltic states and 1,500,000 in Eastern Poland.


 * In addition to the losses listed above an estimated 2.5 to 3.2 million civilians died due to famine and disease in non-occupied territory of the USSR which was caused by wartime shortages in the rear areas.


 * Documents from the Soviet archives list the total deaths of prisoners in the Gulag from 1941 to 1945 at 621,637. In the 1995 Report by the Russian Academy of Science V.N. Zemskov noted "due to general difficulties in 1941-1945 in the camps, the GULAG and prisons about 1.0 million prisoners died


 * These figures do not include an additional 622,000 persons who did not return to the USSR after 1946 according to the 1993 Russian Academy of Science report on total war losses by E.M. Andreev

Studies by E.M. Andreev, L.E. Darski and T. L. Kharkova (ADK)
Population of the Soviet Union 1922-1991

Russian demographers E.M. Andreev, L.E. Darski and T. L. Kharkova (ADK) authored a study of the Soviet population from 1922-1991 which was published by the Russian Academy of Science in 1993. They estimated total Soviet population losses of 26.6 million in the war. This is the current official Russian government figure for total losses. These losses are a demographic estimate of excess deaths, not an exact accounting of losses. The main areas of uncertainty when calculating losses were the estimated figures for increase in the Soviet population in the territories annexed from 1939–1945 and the loss of population due to emigration during and after the war. The figures also include victims of Soviet repression as well as the deaths of Soviet citizens in German military service. Michael Haynes has noted that "We do not know the total number of deaths as a result of the war and related policies". We do know that the demographic estimate of excess deaths was 26.6 million plus an additional 11.9 million natural deaths of persons born before the war and 4.2 million children born during the war that would have occurred in peacetime, bringing the total dead to 42.7 million. At this time the actual total number of deaths caused by the war is unknown since among the 16.1 million "natural deaths" some would have died peacefully and others as a result of the war.

Source:E.M. Andreev, L.E. Darski and T. L. Kharkova (ADK) Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1922–1991. Moscow, Nauka, 1993

Notes:

1-Births and natural deaths during war during war are rough estimates since no accurate records were kept for vital statistics.

2-Figures do not include an estimated 20 million children that were not born during war.

3-According to Michael Haynes at this time the actual total number of deaths caused by the war is unknown since among the deaths by natural causes some would have died peacefully and others as a result of the war.

3- ADK points out that the beginning population in 1941 and at the ending population at 1/1/1946 are rough estimates since figures for the territories annexed in 1939-1940 and emigration from the USSR during the war are based fragmentary information.

Total War Deaths by Age Group and Gender

Source:Andreev, EM, et al., Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1922–1991. Moscow, Nauka, 1993. ISBN 978-5-02-013479-9 Page 78 (Population of the Soviet Union 1922-1991 Russian Academy of Science)

Remarks:

Age Group 0-14- The deaths of 2.8 million children was due primarily to the famine and disease caused by the war.

Age Group 15-19 The excess deaths of 724,000 males compared to females was due primarily to military losses. The draft age in the USSR was 18 during the war.

Age Group 20-34 The excess deaths of 6,342,000 males compared to females was due primarily to military losses. The deaths of 2,663,000 women is an indication that women were also involved in the partisan war and became victims of Nazi reprisals.

Age Group 35-49 The excess deaths of 5,358,000 males compared to females was due primarily to military losses.

Age Group over 49 The excess deaths of 1,038,000 males compared to females was due primarily to military losses. Some men from the older age group did serve in the Armed Forces. They were involved in the partisan war and became victims of Nazi reprisals.

All Age Groups- The excess deaths of 13,489,000 males compared to females was due primarily to military losses with the regular forces as well the partisan forces. The figures are a clear indication that many Soviet civilians died in the war as a result of Nazi reprisals as well as famine and disease caused by wartime shortages which took a large toll.

B. Demographic History of Russia 1927–1959

In the study Demographic History of Russia 1927–1959 Andreev, Darski and Kharkova (ADK) analyzed the 1946 voters lists of the Soviet elections. They maintain that the 1946 voters lists were not an accurate source for the determination of war losses. The February 1946 population taken from the list of voters in Soviet elections compared to the 1939 census shows demographic gap between males and females of 22.8 million, over 14-million more than with Krivoshev's report that put military dead at 8.7 million. The authors maintained that many young men were missed from the voters lists. They also maintain that the 1946 voters lists did not include 6.4 million persons deprived of their rights, in prison or in exile. They also noted that there was an overestimation of women of older years because persons in rural areas without internal passports sought to avoid compulsory heavy labor by adding years of age. The gap in the 1946 list of voters correlates with 20.9 million gap revealed by the Population Census of 1959, though in this case one has to take into account the prewar census of 1939 which had a gap of 8.0 million more females including a 3.4 million gap in 1886–1927 years of birth and a higher rate of male deaths by natural causes.

Alternative sources of demographic losses
According to the Russian demographer Dr. L. L. Rybakovsky there are a wide range of estimates for total war dead by Russian scholars. He cites figures of total war dead  that range from 21.7 million up to 46 million. Rybakovsky points out that the variables that are used to compute losses are by no means certain and are currently  disputed by historians in Russia. Estimates for the population in mid 1941 range from 191.8 million up to 200.1 million; the figures for the surviving population at the end of 1945 range from 167.0 million up to 170.6 million. Based on the birth rate prior to the war there is a population shortfall  of about 20 million births in 1946, some would have been born but died during the war and the balance were never born. The figures for the number of children born during the war who did not survive as well as those unborn are rough estimates. Estimates for the population of the territories annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939-45 range from 17 to 23 million persons. The Russian demographer L. L. Rybakovsky estimated the actual population at 196.7 million.

L. L. Rybakovsky has provided a list of the various estimates of Soviet war losses by Russian scholars since 1988.

A. Currently the figure used by Russian government sources.

Estimated losses of each Soviet Republic
Estimates by former republics of the Soviet Union

The contemporary nations that were part of the former Soviet Union dispute the official military casualties published by Krivosheev and are proud of their sacrifices as being the dearest contribution to the common victory. In a live broadcast of December 16, 2010 "A Conversation with Vladimir Putin" the then Prime Minister of Russia maintained that the Russian Federation had suffered the greatest losses in World War II — 70 per cent of the total. Official estimates by the former republics of the USSR claim military casualties exceeding those of Krivosheev's report by 3.5 times. It is claimed by the website sovsekretno.ru that there are no Memory Books published in the USSR, Russia and the other contemporary republics in 80s and 90s listing casualties of 25 per cent of the draft or less, but there are many Memory Books with 50 per cent and more with some telling us of 70, 75, 76 and up to 79 per cent mortality rate among the conscripted.

(A) The Ukrainian authorities and historians ardently dispute these figures. They put the military casualties alone may be estimated as exceeding 7 million, according to the final volume of the Ukrainian Book "In the memory of posterity" and research of V. E. Korol, writes an American (former Soviet) Doctor of History Vilen Lyulechnik. President of the Ukraine Victor Yanukovych maintains, that the Ukraine has lost more than 10 million lives during the Second World War. The military casualties alone may be estimated as exceeding 7 million, according to the final volume of the Ukrainian Book "In the memory of posterity" and research of V. E. Korol, writes an American (former Soviet) Doctor of History Vilen Lyulechnik.

(B) According to a Belorussian military historian, Doctor of History, professor V.Lemeshonok, the Belorussian military casualties, including partisans and underground group members, exceed 682,291.

(C) The Memory Book of Tatarstan Government contains names of about 350,000 inhabitants of the republic, mostly tatars.

(D) An Israeli historian Itskhak Arad maintains that about 200,000 Soviet Jews or 40 per cent of all draft were killed in battles or captivity — the highest percentage of all nations of the USSR.

(E) Kazakhstan estimates its military casualties at 601,029. (F) Armenians estimate their military casualties at over 300,000.

(G) Georgians also estimate their military casualties at over 300,000.

(I) Among the others Azerbaidzhans claim military casualties of 300,000 , Bashkirs of about 300,000, Mordvas of 130,000 and Chuvashes of 106,470. But one of the most tragic figures comes from a Far Eastern republic of Yakutia and its small nation. 37,965 citizens, mostly yakuts, or 60.74 per cent of 62,509 drafted have not returned home with 7,000 regarded missing. About 69,000 died of severe famine in the republic. This nation could not restore its population even under 1959 census. The record breaking estimates of 700,000 military casualties out of a total 1,25 million Turkmenian citizens (with slightly less than 60 per cent being Turkmens) are attributed to the late President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov. Historians do not regard them trustworthy.

The casualties of each Soviet Republic estimated by Vadim Erlikman

Erlikman pegs total war deaths at 10.7 million, exceeding Krivosheev's 8.7 million by an extra two million. This extra two million would presumably include Soviet POWs that died in Nazi captivity, partisans, and those who fought on the side of the Axis (for example, Moldova was a part of Romania at the time).


 * The source of the figures on the table is Vadim Erlikman. Poteri narodonaseleniia v XX veke : spravochnik. Moscow 2004. ISBN 5-93165-107-1 pp. 23–35 Erlikman notes that these figures are his estimates. This table includes civilian losses in Transcaucasian and Central Asian republics due to famine and disease caused by wartime shortfalls estimated by Vadim Erlikman.

OBD Memorial database of Soviet war dead
The names of Soviet war dead are presented at the OBD(Central Data Bank) Memorial database online.



Causes
The Red Army suffered catastrophic losses of men and equipment during the first months of the German invasion., In the spring of 1941 Stalin ignored the warnings of his intelligence services of a planned German invasion and refused to put the Armed forces on alert. The units in the border regions were not prepared to face the German onslaught and were caught by surprise. Large numbers of Soviet soldiers were captured and many perished due to the brutal mistreatment of POWs by the Nazis U.S. Army historians maintain the high Soviet losses can be attributed to 'less efficient medical services and the Soviet tactics, which throughout the war tended to be expensive in terms of human life"

Russian scholars attribute the high civilian death toll to the Nazi Generalplan Ost which treated the Soviet people as "subhuman". Contemporary Russian sources use the terms "genocide" and "premeditated extermination" when referring to civilian losses in the occupied USSR. To suppress the partisan units the Nazi occupation forces engaged in a campaign of brutal reprisals against innocent civilians. The extensive fighting destroyed agricultural land, infrastructure, and whole towns, leaving much of the population homeless and without food. The Nazis confiscated food stocks which resulted in famine in the occupied regions. During the war Soviet civilians were taken to Germany as forced laborers under inhuman conditions.

The estimates and their sources
Estimates for Soviet losses in the Second World War range from 7 million to over 43 million. During the Communist era in the Soviet Union historical writing about World War II was subject to censorship and only official approved statistical data was published. In the USSR during the Glasnost period under Gorbachev and in post communist Russia the casualties in World War II were re-evaluated and the official figures revised.

Official Soviet era estimates made 1946 to 1987
Joseph Stalin in March 1946 stated that Soviet war losses were 7 million dead. This was to be the official figure until the Khrushchev era. In November 1961 Nikita Khrushchev stated that Soviet war losses were 20 million, this was to be the official figure until the Gorbachev era of Glasnost. Leonid Brezhnev in 1965 put the Soviet death toll in the war at “more than 20 million” Ivan Konev at in a May 1965 Soviet Ministry of Defense press conference stated that Soviet military dead in World War II were 10 million. In 1971 the Soviet demographer Boris Urlanis put losses at 20 million including 6,074,000 civilians and 3,912,000 prisoners of war killed by Nazi Germany, military dead were put at 10 million

Period of Glasnost 1988 to 1992
During the period of Glasnost the official figure of 20 million war dead was challenged by Soviet scholars. In 1988-1989 estimates of 26 to 28 million total war dead appeared in the Soviet press. The Russian scholar Dmitri Volkogonov writing at this time estimated total war deaths at 26-27,000,000 including 10,000,000 in the military In March 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev set up a committee to investigate Soviet losses in the war. In a May 1990 speech Gorbachev gave the figure for total Soviet losses at "almost 27 million". This revised figure was the result of research by the committee set up by Gorbachev that estimated total war dead at between 26 and 27 million. In January 1990 M.A. Moiseev Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces disclosed for the first time in an interview that Soviet military war dead totaled 8,668,400.

From 1942-1946 the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission collected information on Nazi crimes in the USSR. The reports of the Commission detailing the number of civilian deaths were kept secret until the collapse of the USSR. In 1991 the Russian scholar A.A. Shevyakov published an article with summary of civilian losses based on the reports of this commission, civilian dead were given as 17.7 million In a second article in 1992 A.A. Shevyakov gave a figure of 20.8 million civilian dead, no explanation for the difference was given.

Figures released in Russia 1993-1995
In 1993 the Russian Russian Ministry of Defense published a study by Krivosheev that gave a detailed accounting of Soviet military losses for the campaigns in the war, total Soviet military dead and missing were put at 8,668,400. These figures were based on an official report of the Soviet General Staff from 1966-1968 that was previously classified secret. A report published by the Russian Academy of Science in 1993 estimated that the total Soviet population losses were 26.6 million. This is a current official figure for total losses in the war. In 1995 the Russian Academy of Science published an article that analyzed Soviet civilian losses in the war. They estimated civilian deaths in the German occupied USSR at 13.7 million, which includes 7.4 million victims of Nazi genocide and reprisals; 2.2 million deaths of persons deported to Germany for forced labor; and 4.1 million famine and disease deaths in occupied territory. They also estimated an additional 3 million deaths due to famine and disease in the regions not occupied by Germany

Estimates by Russians published in the West 1950-1983
In 1949 a Soviet Colonel Kalinov defected to the west, he published a book claiming that Soviet records indicated the military loss of 13.6 million men including 2.6 million POW dead. Sergei Maksudov a Russian demographer living in the west estimated Soviet war losses at between 24.5 and 27.4 million, including 7.5 million military dead. The Soviet mathematician Iosif G. Dyadkin published a study in the United States that estimated the total Soviet population losses from 1939–1945 due to the war and political repression at 30 million. Dyadkin was imprisoned for publishing this study in the west.

Estimates of Soviet war dead by Western scholars
Historians writing outside of the Soviet Union and Russia have evaluated the various Russian language sources and have offered their estimates of Soviet war dead. Here is a listing of estimates by recognized scholars published in the West.


 * David Glantz maintains that “ the war with Nazi Germany cost the Soviet Union at least 29 million military casualties”(dead, wounded and sick) “ The exact numbers can never be established, and some revisionists have attempted to put the number as high as 50 million”


 * Richard Overy believes the figures for military dead published in 1993... give the fullest account yet available, but they omit three operations that were clear failures. The official figures themselves must be viewed critically, given the difficulty of knowing in the chaos of 1941 and 1942 exactly who had been killed, wounded or even conscripted" Regarding military dead Richard Overy believes that "for the present the figure of 8.6 million must be regarded as the most reliable"


 * Norman Davies points out that that not all Soviet war dead were killed by the Nazis, many perished due to Soviet repression. Davies notes It lies in the nature of the problem that the victims of Soviet wartime repressions cannot be easily quantified. The records of the victorious Soviets, unlike those of the defeated Nazis have never been opened for scrutiny. Whether the fraction of Soviet civilians who perished at the hands of their own régime was one quarter, one third or even one half of the whole will never be firmly established until the Soviet government itself comes clean.


 * The authors of the Cambridge History of Russia have provided an analysis of Soviet wartime casualties. Overall losses were about 25 million persons plus or minus 1 million.  Red Army records indicate 8.7 million military deaths, “this figure is actually the lower limit”. The official figures understate POW losses and armed partisan deaths.  Excess civilian deaths in the Nazi occupied USSR were 13.7 million persons including 2 million Jews. There were an additional 2.6 million deaths in the interior regions of the Soviet Union. The authors maintain “scope for error in this number is very wide”.  At least 1 million perished in the wartime GULAG camps or in deportations.  Other deaths occurred in the wartime evacuations and due to war related malnutrition and disease in the interior.  The authors maintain that both Stalin and Hitler “were both responsible but in different ways” for these deaths. The authors of the Cambridge History of Russia believe that “In short the  general picture of Soviet wartime losses suggests a jigsaw puzzle. The general outline is clear: people died in colossal numbers but in many different miserable and terrible circumstances.  But individual pieces of the puzzle do not fit well; some overlap and others are yet to be found"


 * Steven Rosefielde puts the war related demographic losses of the USSR from 1941 -45 at 22.0 to 26.0 million persons (7.8 million military and 14.2 to 18.2 million civilians). The actual wartime losses are higher because some persons who would have died peacefully actually perished as a result of the war. Rosefielde estimated the actual military dead at 8.7 million men and 17.7 to 20.3 million civilians killed by the Nazis in the war- (exterminated, shot, gassed burned 6.4 or 11.3 million; famine and disease 8.5 or 6.5 million; forced laborer in Germany 2.8 or 3.0 million and 500,000 who did not return to USSR after war.) In addition to these war deaths Rosefielde also estimated the excess deaths attributed to the “total potential crimes against humanity” due to Soviet repression at 2.183 million persons in 1939-40 and 5.458 million from 1941-1945. The figures for losses due to Soviet repression do not include 1 million military deaths of men drafted from the Gulag into penal suicide battalions.