Which country suffered the most deaths of military personnel in World War II?

The immense scale of fighting on World War II's Eastern Front resulted in military casualties that dwarf those of any other nation. The country that bore this unbelievable burden was the Soviet Union, of which Russia was the largest and most populous republic. The Red Army's military death toll was staggering, with figures starting well over 6 million. Most modern historical estimates place the number of soldiers killed or missing in action even higher, between 8.7 and 11 million.

This horrific number was the result of several factors. The conflict between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was a "war of annihilation," driven by extreme ideology that led to unparalleled brutality. German forces systematically murdered millions of Soviet prisoners of war through starvation, exposure, and execution. The sheer size of the battles, like Stalingrad and Kursk, involved millions of soldiers, and the Soviet command often employed tactics that resulted in massive casualties to halt and eventually push back the German invasion.

To put the Soviet losses in perspective, Germany suffered the second-