At least 60 Russian conscripts were killed during Ukraine's large-scale incursion in Russia's border Kursk region in summer and fall of 2024, Russia's Vazhniye Istoriyi reported.
Almost half of these soldiers were killed in the first week of the surprise offensive that was launched on August 6. Five Russian soldiers from a howitzer platoon of the 30th Artillery Brigade (military unit 62048) were killed on the first day of Ukraine's offensive, while eight other conscripts were killed on August 7-10. The killed conscripts have an average age of 20 and come from 34 Russian regions, including 5 from Krasnodar Krai, 5 from Krasnoyarsk Krai, 4 from Altai Krai and 3 each from Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Komi, Buryatia and Dagestan.
Losses among conscripts continued in September 2024, when at least 20 more died. Overall, sixty Russian soldiers went missing during Ukraine's incursion into Kursk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently asserted that conscripts and reservists are not participating - and will not participate - in the war against Ukraine. However, from the beginning of the conflict, there have been reports of conscripts being deployed in combat in Kursk Oblast. Russian media have reported that the Ministry of Defence has not removed them from the front lines. Ukraine launched cross-border incursion into Kursk region last August in what became the largest incursion into Russia's territory since the end of World War II.
