One of the most famous Russian military bloggers, Andriy “Murz” Morozov, committed suicide after reporting on the losses of the Russian army during the battle for Avdiivka, MediaZona and other Russian and Ukrainian news sites reported.

Morozov, who served in the Russian armed forces, ran the Telegram channel “I am writing to us from Ioannina”, where he constantly reported on events at the front. On the channel, he published a farewell note in which he accused the persecution of “political whores led by Volodymyr Solovyov”, referring to the well-known Russian TV presenter and propagandist in Moscow.

“My enemies do not come to fight hand to hand, they attack me with someone else’s hands,” he accuses in the letter.

A military blogger posted on February 18, the same day that the Russian army announced it had taken “full” control of the city of Avdiyivka, Donetsk region, that the number of Russian casualties there was 16,000.

His post sparked a heated debate among the Russian military blogging community, which has hundreds of thousands of followers on Telegram, and Murz was heavily criticized by some Moscow propagandists.

MediaZona notes that the passage in the letter about Solovyov’s “prostitute” is a reference to one of the “Solovyov LIVE” programs, where Morozov was attacked by propagandists Yulia Vityazeva and Armen Gasparyan.

Two days later, Morozov deleted the post, stating in a farewell letter that he was forced to do so.

Russian military blogger commits suicide before announcing “absolute success” in Avdiivka

“Comrade Colonel, by your order I had to delete the post in my Telegram channel “I am writing to you from Ioannina”. And your command forced you to issue this order based on the collective responsibility of the military,” he wrote.

“And he, your command, was forced to do this by political prostitutes led by Volodymyr Solovyov, who get angry if he comes to press the hook. Well, I will do it myself. I will shoot myself if no one dares to do this little thing,” he wrote.

MediaZona also notes that he deleted his post about the alleged losses of Russians in Avdiivka before Vladimir Putin’s meeting in the Kremlin with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who announced the “liberation” of the city.

On Tuesday, Putin mocked what he called the “chaotic escape” of Ukrainian forces from Avdiyivka and ordered the Russian military to push deeper into Ukraine after “absolute success” in Avdiyivka.

“As for the general situation in Avdiivka, it is an absolute success. Congratulations. We must continue!”, Putin pointed out to Shoigu. “But the advance must be well prepared, supported by weapons, combat equipment and ammunition,” he said, among other things.

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