Russian war blogger reportedly dies by suicide after saying 16,000 Russian troops lost in battle for Avdiivka

According to several Russian pro-war Telegram channels, Russian war blogger Andrey Morozov has died by suicide in occupied Ukraine. Shortly before his death, Morozov published a post saying that the Russian army suffered significant losses in the battle for Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine. Meduza explains what we know.

Multiple Russian pro-war Telegram channels have reported that Andrey Morozov, a Russian soldier who runs a popular Telegram channel and goes by the pseudonym Murz, has died by suicide.

Lawyer Maxim Pashkov, who said he spoke to Morozov the previous night, reported that the military blogger shot himself. According to Pashkov, there was “no sign” during their conversation that Morozov was considering taking his life.

On Wednesday morning, Morozov published a series of posts on his channel in which he said that he was going to shoot himself and asked his readers “not to be sad” about his death. He asked to be buried in the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic.”

Morozov wrote that on February 20, his superiors forced him to delete a post from his channel. According to BBC Russian, this likely refers to a post in which Morozov said that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers and 300 armored vehicles during the battle for control of the village of Avdiivka. The BBC noted that the post drew fierce criticism from Russian propagandists, who accused the blogger of “slandering the Russian Defense Ministry.” According to Morozov’s final messages, the order from his superiors was issued under pressure from the “political prostitutes led by [propagandist] Vladimir Solovyov.”

Morozov also published his “will,” along with a statement addressed to Russia’s chief military prosecutor about the severe shortage of weapons, manpower, and medical care at the front.

Solovyov did not respond to the accusations leveled against him. Russian propagandist Yulia Vityazeva, who was among those disparaging Morozov for his post, commented on his death on her Telegram channel. Vityazeva wrote that “suicide is a sin, weakness, and defeat,” and added that the blame “falls entirely on the conscience of those who knew about their supposed friend’s problems but didn’t help him in any way.”

Independent sources have not confirmed information about Morozov’s death, and Russia’s Defense Ministry has not commented on the situation.