photos disappeared and a lot

If you have restored a backup from iCloud without taking a current backup on iTunes then all the Photos are gone.

If you have restored a backup from iTunes without taking a current backup after archiving the old backup then all is gone.

The data that is synced to iCloud is not backed up either on iCloud or on iTunes.

If you have deleted it from iCloud then it is gone from iPhone too.

Your post does not specify exactly the process adopted by you to take a backup or restore.

If it is not in the Recently Deleted Album then either you have deleted them 30 days earlier or have never deleted any.

Please check the following

1. If you have restored your iPhone with a backup that does not contain the Photos that you are looking for then please look for correct backup on your PC/Mac --> Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple ...
2. If you have restored from iCloud backup, then note the following
   1. iCloud backup doesn’t include information that is synced and stored in iCloud, like Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Mail, Notes, Voice Memos, shared photos, iCloud Photos*, Health data, call history, and files you store in iCloud Drive.
   2. *-If you had turned on iCloud Photos, your content is automatically stored in iCloud. 
3. Probably you may have un-synced photos with Mac / PC, sync them again
   1. For PC: --> Sync photos in iTunes on PC with devices - Apple Support
   2. For Mac --> Sync photos between your Mac and iPhone or iPad - Apple ...
4. Have you ever imported your photos to Mac/PC and used Delete after Import --? Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod ...
5. Do you have a backup (iTunes) --> Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup ...
6. Have you ever uploaded them to any Cloud Drives (iCloud Drive, Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox, Flickr, box, Amazon Drive, Adobe Creative Cloud etc.?)
7. At last but not least, check the Apple ID that you have signed in to your device.

iCloud backup doesn’t include information that is synced and stored in iCloud, like Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Mail, Notes, Voice Memos, Messages*, shared photos, iCloud Photos*, Health data, call history, and files you store in iCloud Drive.

*-If you had turned on Messages in iCloud & iCloud Photos, your content is automatically stored in iCloud and is available on all devices that use the same Apple ID

How did you manage to create a backup on a storage device? This process is quite tedious, lengthy and uses the symbolic link concept. You must be quite conversant with the use of the Terminal App to be able to create a backup on an external storage device.

Can you please re-post and state the following?

1. Backup on iCloud or iTunes?
2. Do you have Mac or PC?
3. How did you make a copy of the Backup? Moving or Copying?

If you delete Photos and Videos from the iPhone it is deleted from iCloud Photos too, and vice-versa. 

And if you happen to take a backup either over iTunes or iCloud after deleting Photos and Videos all the photos are deleted from the backup (iCloud/iTunes) too.