Andrey Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, reportedly committed suicide as a result of 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, also known as Murz on Telegram, was an ultranationalist commentator who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and took part in Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
On Sunday, Morozov informed his 120,000 Telegram followers that Russia had lost 16,000 personnel and 300 pieces of armor during the months-long capture of Avdiivka. Senior Russian propagandists chastised the blogger for “slandering the Russian defense ministry” in response to the post.
Andrey Morozov said he had been pressured to delete post detailing the number of casualties
Morozov’s final messages on Tuesday morning announced his suicide and stated that he was pressured by his superiors to delete the post detailing the number of casualties in Avdiivka. On Tuesday, several people close to Morozov confirmed his death, with some claiming that he shot himself.
The Kremlin last year largely cracked down on voices such as Morozov, who was once part of a loud group of ultra-nationalist hawks who criticized Moscow over weapon shortages and accused the Russian military leadership of concealing the true death toll among its forces, prompted in part by the rebellion of then-Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Russia’s manpower and artillery advantage overwhelmed Ukrainian forces in Adviivka
Russia conceals its war losses, and the true casualty toll from its invasion of Ukraine remains unknown, despite Western officials believing the war cost the country more than 315,000 dead and injured troops.
Avdiivka, which had a population of 32,000, fell to Russia on Saturday, giving Vladimir Putin his largest battlefield victory since Russian forces captured Bakhmut in May 2023.
The city holds special significance for Russia because it was captured in 2014 by Moscow-backed separatists who seized a large portion of eastern Ukraine before being recaptured by Ukrainian forces.
Russia’s manpower and artillery advantage overwhelmed Ukrainian forces in Adviivka, but Moscow appears to have suffered a massive number of casualties during the offensive.
The UK Ministry of Defence had previously estimated in a military briefing that Russia lost at least “400 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and other hardware, as well as likely thousands of personnel” during the campaign to capture Avdiivka.
Ukraine reported that more than 17,000 Russian soldiers were killed in the five-month battle for Avdiivka, which closely matches Morozov’s estimates.
Ukraine also suffered greatly during the city’s defense.
Ukraine has blamed the fall of Avdiivka on the United States’ failure to approve a critical aid package
The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing Western officials, that Russian units may have captured hundreds of Ukrainian troops during Ukraine’s retreat from the city.
Ukraine has blamed the fall of Avdiivka on the United States’ failure to approve a critical aid package, raising concerns in Kyiv that Russia will press on with its offensive, leaving Ukrainian troops short of shells and vulnerable to Russian airstrikes.
“We wouldn’t [have lost] Avdiivka if we had all the artillery ammunition that we needed to defend it. Russia does not intend to pause or withdraw. … Once Avdiivka is under their control, they undoubtedly will choose another city and begin to storm it,” Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said.
Putin said on Tuesday that his troops would push deeper into Ukraine to build on their battlefield victories.
“As for the overall situation in Avdiivka, this is an absolute success, I congratulate you. It needs to be built on,” Putin told his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, in the Kremlin.