I'm not sure about these numbers but I think the Russians suffered 20 million casualties fighting the Germans in WWII. Not all of this was military some where also civilian. Does anyone know the military count?

Also does anyone know how many casualties the German military sufferred against the Russians? I think it's around 1 or 2 million but I'm not sure.

SU Civilians: 7.420.379
SU soldiers: 19.180.000
German overall military casualties: 3.500.000 (including Austrians and Sudeten Germans)

(Source: German Wikipedia.org)

In a tv documentary about the liberation of Europe, they said that nearly 80% of the german military casualties occurred on the Eastern Front. (That would be around 2.800.000 deads.)

I wonder if an accurate accounting exists for comparitive losses of combat aircraft, tanks and combat naval vessels. The Soviet Union went to such great lengths to cover their actual losses (especially from Operation Barbossa) that this may not be possible of course.

I think in recent years as Soviet archives and records have become more available in the West, the truth about Soviet casualties in Barbarossa is coming to light.

For instance; we now know that the massed tank battle of Prokorovka (as part of the Battle of Kursk) where an equal number of German and Soviet tanks were destroyed was a result of Soviet propaganda - in reality the Wehrmacht only suffered 20% of the Soviet tank losses. We also know more about Operation Mars, a huge defeat for the Red Army and Marshall Zhukov in particular that took place around about the same time as the latter battle for Stalingrad. Operation Mars was an even bigger material loss to the Red Army than Stalingrad was to the Wehrmacht.

Know of any good sources then?

Hi, these are Russian sources so can't vouch for authenticity. They appear to be fairly accurate but who can tell:

http://www.battlefield.ru/library/ba...ttle12_04.html

As well as listing Operation Mars this site has a lot of different data regarding Soviet losses in WW2.

http://pkka.narod.ru/h-ind.htm

They are useful because they are coming from the Soviet perspective. They have lots of facts and figures but have to be weighed up from the location of their source.

For the best record of Operation Mars, read Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: ByDavid M Glantz

Originally Posted by GuyontheRight

For the best record of Operation Mars, read Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: ByDavid M Glantz

I hear Glantz leans towards the Soviets in bias but if I certainly get hold of the book I will read it with an open mind.

To tell you the truth, I really only skimmed the book, It does drag on more then needed. I saw no bias though, although he did openly express his pity for many of the common fighting man, In particular the Russian penal units. Whether or not this is the "bias" you've heard, I dunno.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Hi, these are Russian sources so can't vouch for authenticity. They appear to be fairly accurate but who can tell:

http://www.battlefield.ru/library/ba...ttle12_04.html

As well as listing Operation Mars this site has a lot of different data regarding Soviet losses in WW2.

http://pkka.narod.ru/h-ind.htm

They are useful because they are coming from the Soviet perspective. They have lots of facts and figures but have to be weighed up from the location of their source.

Already read the first link through previously. Second one seems to fit, as ridiculous as losing 83,500 tanks throughout the war seems. So now all we need is a site listing German tanks lost and we can make the comparison.