WWII: distribution of deaths in rural Russia by age 1941-1944

In 1941, in the eastern, rural regions of Soviet Russia, almost 54 percent of all deaths were of children below the age of five years, and almost one third of all deaths (or roughly three fifths of deaths in the 0-4 age bracket) were of infants who were yet to reach their first birthday. This spike in child mortality was largely due to the redirection of manpower, as well as medical resources, to the frontlines, along with disruptions in food supplies, and the general destruction caused by the war. As conditions improved, the share of child deaths in subsequent years saw a significant reduction, however a large part of this was also due to the drop in fertility caused by the war, where fewer children died as there were simply fewer children born in these years.

Distribution of deaths per age group in rural Russia during the Second World War from 1941 to 1944 (in percent)

Characteristic	1941	1942	1943	1944
Unknown age	0.4%	0.8%	1.1%	1.3%
Over 80 years	4.8%	5.3%	7%	7.8%
75-79	3.3%	3.8%	5.4%	6%
70-74	4.2%	5%	7.2%	8%
65-69	4.1%	4.9%	6.8%	7.4%
60-64	3.7%	4.5%	6.4%	7%
55-59	3.1%	4%	5.7%	6.2%
50-54	2.4%	3.3%	4.6%	4.6%
45-49	2.3%	3.2%	4.2%	4.1%
40-44	2.4%	3%	3.7%	3.9%
35-39	2.4%	2.8%	3.3%	3.3%
30-34	2.2%	2.5%	2.9%	2.9%
25-29	1.8%	1.9%	2.1%	1.9%
20-24	1.4%	1.8%	2%	2.1%
15-19	1.8%	2.4%	2.8%	3.2%
10-14	2.1%	2.2%	2.5%	3.1%
5-9	3.8%	3.8%	4.2%	5.9%
0-4	53.8%	44.7%	27.9%	21.1%
Below 1 year*	31.5%	25.2%	10.5%	7.6%