More than 20,000 soldiers from Russia's Povolzhye -- territories comprising several regions around the Volga River -- have died in Ukraine since the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor, according to calculations from RFE/RL's Idel.Realities, another sign of the deep impact the Kremlin's war in Ukraine is having on more distant regions of Russia.
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Data from Idel.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, show Bashkortostan has the highest death toll at just over 3,000, followed by Tatarstan with 2,724 and Perm Krai with 2,296.
The fewest losses among the 14 regions of Povolzhye were reported in Penza (461) and Mordovia (307).
The data are calculated using reports from relatives of the deceased and official statements.
Authorities in the regions have actively supported the war by offering financial incentives to encourage enlistment.
In addition to soldiers called up through mobilizations, many from the region who joined the war included prison inmates and private military mercenaries, as well as "kontraktniki"-- men who voluntarily sign contracts to fight, induced by extraordinarily high wages and veterans benefits, including for widows and survivors.
The Russian government has been notoriously tightlipped about its war losses since it launched the invasion in February 2022. Its last official figure came in September that year, with 5,937 Russian soldiers killed. At the time, the Ukrainian side was reporting Russian losses at nearly 10 times that figure.
That has made it difficult for reporters, analysts, and outside observers to gauge the full impact of the war on specific populations.
The tally, along with data published by RFE/RL last week, is the latest indication of how the burden of the Kremlin's war on Ukraine is disproportionately falling on more distant regions of Russia, farther away from the wealthy population centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
SEE ALSO: RFE/RL Reveals Spike In War Deaths From Russia's Ethnic RegionsMediazona and the BBC Russian Service have confirmed the names of 71,057 Russian soldiers killed as of last month, with Bashkortostan and Tatarstan ranking first and fourth in losses nationwide.
Overall, Russian casualties in the Ukraine war now exceed those from all of the post-World War II conflicts that have involved the Soviet Union and Russia since the fall of the Iron Curtain.