Pro-war Russian blogger who revealed huge Avdiivka losses dies by suicide
Source: The Guardian
Pro-war Russian blogger who revealed huge Avdiivka losses dies by suicide
Andrey Morozov said he had been pressured to delete post detailing number of casualties
Pjotr Sauer
Wed 21 Feb 2024 13.00 GMT
Last modified on Wed 21 Feb 2024 20.10 GMT
Andrey Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, has reportedly died by suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.
Morozov, who went by the pseudonym Murz on Telegram, was an ultra-nationalist commentator who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and participated in Russias full-scale invasion in 2022.
On Sunday, Morozov wrote to his 120,000 followers on Telegram that Russia lost 16,000 personnel and 300 pieces of armour during its months-long capture of Avdiivka. The post drew heavy criticism from senior Russian propagandists, who accused the blogger of slandering the Russian defence ministry.
In Morozovs final messages on Tuesday morning, he announced his suicide and said he was pressured by his superiors to delete the post detailing the number of casualties in Avdiivka. Several people close to Morozov on Tuesday confirmed his death, with some saying that he had shot himself.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/21/pro-war-russian-blogger-who-revealed-huge-avdiivka-losses-dies-by-suicide