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A professional-war Russian navy blogger died on Wednesday, his lawyer mentioned, after the blogger wrote that the nation's navy had accused him of eradicating a put up highlighting the dimensions of its losses in latest combating in Ukraine. Was pressurized.
Blogger Andrei Morozov claimed in his put up that Russia had misplaced 16,000 individuals and 300 armored autos within the assault on the Ukrainian city of Avdeevka, which the Russians captured final week. On Tuesday, he deleted the put up, by which he had described it as a marketing campaign of intimidation towards him.
The following morning, Mr. Morozov printed a collection of posts on Telegram. He outlined complaints he acquired from Russian navy command and Kremlin propagandists about his revelations. Within the put up he threatened to finish his life.
His lawyer Maxim Pashkov confirmed the loss of life in a written response to questions. He didn’t give any purpose.
Mr. Morozov's loss of life was reported earlier on Wednesday by Russian state media, a pro-Russian official in occupied Ukraine and varied outstanding Russian navy bloggers, a free group of veterans, pro-government struggle correspondents and navy specialists who’ve turn into a significant supply. went. Details about struggle in Russia.
Such crucial ultranationalist bloggers have been initially tolerated within the struggle: they supported the Russian military and drew consideration to the issues of its troopers. However they’ve been suppressed after the insurrection final yr by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, who created a paramilitary pressure often called Wagner and espoused related concepts.
Mr Prigozhin died final August in a airplane crash that Western officers blamed on the Kremlin. One other outstanding ultranationalist blogger, Igor Girkin, was jailed on extremism fees, pushing different, lesser-known critics largely toe the official line.
The risk described by Mr Morozov, 44, additionally comes because the Russian authorities final week detained opposition chief Alexei A. It’s attempting to stamp out the remaining expressions of discontent after Navalny's loss of life.
The federal government has all of the sudden detained tons of of individuals for attempting to put flowers at monuments or categorical public tribute to Mr Navalny in different methods. On Tuesday the federal government mentioned it had detained an American and a Russian citizen on treason fees. A gaggle of legal professionals mentioned the costs stemmed from a $50 donation to the Ukrainian struggle effort.
Additionally on Tuesday, Ukrainian officers confirmed the loss of life of a Russian navy defector who was discovered useless with gunshot wounds in Spain. The Russian authorities has not claimed duty, however the head of Russia's overseas spy company known as the sufferer on Tuesday, Maxim Kuzminov, a “ethical corpse.”
Associates of the blogger Mr. Morozov, whereas claiming that he shot himself, haven’t alleged any foul play within the public tribute. However in posts printed shortly earlier than his loss of life, Mr. Morozov described threats and intimidation towards him.
“Many individuals in my life have tried to intimidate, strain and persuade me,” Mr. Morozov wrote in a put up on Wednesday. “His last argument: 'You gained't change something!'
Mr. Morozov mentioned he determined to take away the put up about Avdeevka after receiving a request from an unnamed colonel, who instructed him that his unit wouldn’t in any other case obtain new gear.
“If anybody doesn't have the braveness to do that trivial job, I'm hanging myself,” Mr. Morozov mentioned, in obvious reference to his critics.
Federal Russian officers had not commented on his loss of life as of Wednesday afternoon.
Mr. Morozov, a staunch supporter of the invasion, mentioned he publicized the lack of Avdiivka to attract consideration to the plight of Russian troops.
His posts describe a Russian marketing campaign to seize the town at any price. He mentioned one regiment, a Russian military unit that normally consists of about 2,000 troopers, was “zeroed out.” He additionally mentioned that wounded troopers who tried to inform civilian authorities in regards to the scale of the harm have been ignored.
Ukrainian commanders have been in a position to transfer most of their forces out of Avdiivka earlier than the Russians surrounded them, Mr. Morozov wrote. Senior US officers instructed The New York Instances that tons of of Ukrainian troopers have been nonetheless captured within the retreat.
Mr. Morozov, a longtime nationalist commentator, started running a blog on LiveJournal, which was common in Russia within the 2000s. In these extra permissive days, the positioning served as a platform for dissidents from throughout the political spectrum, together with Mr Navalny.
Following Russia's annexation of elements of japanese Ukraine in 2014, Mr. Morozov was a part of a technology of ultranationalist intellectuals who traveled there to place into observe their concepts in regards to the nationwide unity of all Russian-speaking peoples. A lot of them grew to become outstanding supporters of a full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022 and targets of Ukrainian assassination plots.
Mr. Morozov served in a pro-Russian militia within the occupied Luhansk area and later started publishing on Telegram below the title “We Hear from Yanina,” a reference to Information from a Distance from Alexander Dumas' e-book common within the Soviet Union. The weblog mixed ultranationalist rhetoric with criticism of the alleged corruption and isolation of the Russian management, which Mr. Morozov blamed for the nation's navy failures.
Mr. Morozov was a uncommon remaining crucial voice within the once-zealous, aggressive group of Russian navy bloggers. Regardless of his help for the Russian struggle effort, he seems to have had no illusions about searching for justice in his loss of life.
“The official investigation will set up every part, ha ha,” he wrote in his final put up.
Oleg Matsnev Contributed to analysis.