Pro-war Andrey Morozov shared on Telegram that Russia had lost 16,000 soldiers in the capture of the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka and was strongly criticized. Russian sources claim it was a suicide.
(DW) A prominent Russian pro-war blogger was found dead after posting a message claiming that the Russian army had lost thousands of soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. The cause of death of Andrey Morozov, who used the pseudonym “Murz” on the Telegram messaging app, was allegedly suicide.
On Sunday (18/02), Morozov wrote to his 120,000 followers on Telegram that Russia had lost 16,000 soldiers and 300 armored vehicles during the capture of Avdiivka. The post was widely criticized by Russian propagandists, who accused the blogger of “slandering” the Defense Ministry.
In his last messages on Tuesday, Morozov reported that he was being pressured by his “superiors” to delete the post and announced his suicide. On the same day, people connected to him confirmed his death – some saying that he had shot himself.
The intimidation described by Morozov in his latest publication took place days after the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison and the murder in Spain of a Russian pilot who had deserted during the war.
The blogger, with an ultranationalist background, had fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and participated in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Precedent with Prigozhin
Since May 2024, when the then head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, rehearsed a rebellion, the Kremlin has cracked down on voices like Morozov. Prigozhin himself died three months after the failed mutiny, when the plane he was on crashed.
Although he was in favor of the war in Ukraine, Morozov used to criticize the Kremlin for the shortage of weapons and accused Moscow of omitting the true number of dead in its forces.
Officially, the Moscow government does not usually disclose its losses, which is why the number of soldiers killed in the conflict is unknown – Western authorities estimate 315,000 soldiers killed and wounded.
Avdiivka was taken by the Russians on Saturday, after the Ukrainian army withdrew, in the biggest victory for President Vladimir Putin since Bakhmut in May 2023. Analysts believe that the conquest of Adviivka caused a large number of casualties, as well as significant losses in arms.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the UK Ministry of Defense estimates that Russia has lost at least “400 tanks, infantry vehicles and other equipment”, as well as “thousands of people” in Avdiivka.
Ukraine said that over the course of the five-month battle, more than 17,000 Russian soldiers were killed, a figure similar to the one released by Morozov before he was reprimanded. Kiev blames the United States for the defeat at Avdiivka, as the Americans continue to stall on sending more aid to Ukraine.
“We wouldn’t have [lost] Avdiivka if we had all the artillery ammunition needed to defend it,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
le/av (ots) *** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI Team ***