15/08/2026
Breaking: Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia since January, doubling the russian forces' losses?
Recently, it became known that, according to the Conflict Intelligence Team, since July, 80 people have been killed and at least 700 injured in attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian territory. The Agency publication claims that this figure is twice as high as the same figure in July 2025. According to media reports, the death toll in the occupying country's territory reached at least 327 in the first seven months of
2026. In contrast, the death toll in the same period in 2025 was 145. The Conflict Intelligence Team ranked the Belgorod Region as the region with the highest casualty rate over the past seven months, with 59 casualties. This statistic is often cited by Russian media, but it's often overlooked that no casualties would have occurred had the Russian army not invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. According to CIT, in January-July 2026 , 1,695 civilians were killed and more than 12,500 people were injured in Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks. The agency noted the intensification of attacks by the Ukrainian army on Wildberries warehouses, forcing Russia to feel the consequences of the war on its own territory. The New York Times reports that the number of civilian deaths in Russia has risen sharply as Ukraine expands its air war and increasingly attacks targets on Russian territory. According to the Conflict Intelligence Team, 327 civilians were killed in Russia outside of occupied Ukrainian territories in the first seven months of 2026. This is the highest number since the beginning of the war.
By comparison, during the same period last year, the CIT recorded 145 civilian deaths. The number of wounded also more than doubled: in the first seven months of 2026, according to the organization, 2,366 people were wounded. The NYT notes that for four and a half years, Vladimir Putin has attempted to shield Russian society from the consequences of the war against Ukraine. Until recently, civilian deaths on the Russian side were mostly limited to border regions or occupied territories. Now the situation is changing: Ukraine is using its growing arsenal of drones and missiles to carry the war deeper into Russia. Kyiv claims that the strikes on oil refineries, online store warehouses, and other targets are aimed at pressuring Putin and forcing Moscow to end the war. Ukraine also maintains that it does not target civilians. The NYT emphasizes that maintaining this position is critical to Kyiv's international support. However, judging by the aftermath, some strikes did not go as planned and resulted in casualties. The newspaper writes that the intensification of Ukrainian attacks coincided with the sharpest drop in Putin's approval ratings since the start of the war and growing discontent among Russians.
But it's still unclear whether the rising civilian death toll in Russia will change the Kremlin's calculations regarding the end of the war.
According to the New York Times, no civilians were killed in Moscow as a result of Ukrainian strikes. The publication also specifically notes that significantly more Ukrainian civilians have died during the war than Russians. In recent months, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine has been rising due to Russia's unprecedented use of ballistic missiles and massive drone attacks. According to CIT, in the first seven months of this year, 1,695 civilians were killed and another 12,515 were injured in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
“Note: The photo below is AI-generated and is intended for illustration purposes only.”
