Pro-Russian blogger allegedly committed suicide due to “bullying reactions” after revelation of huge Russian losses in Avdiivka | Abroad

Morozov, who used the pseudonym Murz on Telegram, was an ultranationalist blogger who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and also took part in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

On Sunday, Morozov wrote to his 120,000 followers on Telegram that Russia lost 16,000 soldiers and 300 pieces of armor in the capture of Avdiivka. The post was widely criticized by senior Russian propagandists, who accused the blogger of “defaming the Russian Defense Ministry.”

In his last messages on Tuesday morning, Morozov announced his suicide and said he was pressured by his superiors to delete the message in which he wrote about the losses in Avdiivka. Morozov is said to have shot himself in the head, according to his lawyer Maksim Pashkov, who claims that he had spoken to Morozov the night before and that there was nothing to indicate an act of desperation. There is no independent confirmation of Morozov’s death or cause of death.

The Kremlin is cracking down on voices like Morozov, who criticize Russia for its weapons shortage and accuse Russia’s military leadership of concealing the true death toll of its forces.

Putin is hiding his war losses. The actual number of casualties from the Russian invasion of Ukraine remains secret, although it is claimed that the war has cost the country more than 315,000 dead and wounded.

Avdiivka, which once had a population of 32,000, fell to Russia on Saturday, handing Putin his biggest battlefield victory since Russian forces captured the city of Bakhmut in May 2023.

The city has special symbolism for Russia because it was captured in 2014 by pro-Russian separatists who seized part of eastern Ukraine, but was then recaptured by Ukrainian forces.

The advantage of Russian manpower and artillery overwhelmed the Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka, but Russia also appears to have suffered a staggering number of casualties from taking the city.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense previously estimated in a military briefing that Russia lost at least “400 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other hardware, and probably thousands of troops” in the battle to take Avdiivka.

Ukraine said more than 17,000 Russian soldiers were killed in the five-month battle for Avdiivka, a figure that closely matched Morozov’s estimates.

Putin on Tuesday called the capture of the city a success and said his troops would push further into Ukraine to expand on the success: “As for the overall situation in Avdiivka, this is an absolute success, I congratulate you. It must be built on,” Putin told his Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, at the Kremlin.

Anyone who has questions about suicide can contact the Suicide Line via the toll-free number 1813 or via suicide1813.be.