Russian military blogger, who wrote about large Russian army losses in Aviivka, commits suicide amid harassment by Kremlin propagandists
Andrey Morozov, the author of the Telegram channel "Letters from Yania," has taken his own life following harassment by official Russian propagandists, employees of Vladimir Solovyov, Yulia Vityazeva, and Armen Gasparyan. Morozov's death has been noted by Miroslava Reginskaya, the wife of the former "Defense Minister of the DPR," Igor Strelkov, who is convicted in Russia for "inciting extremism", and lawyer Maxim Pashkov.
A suicide note was published on Morozov's channel. In it, he explained his decision to end his life was due to pressure from the Russian military command. "Well, I will do it myself. I will shoot myself if no one dares to do this trivial job. And you will be given tanks and copters," wrote Morozov.
There has been no official confirmation of Morozov's death.
"After news of Morozov's suicide, rural dumpsters massively defended the military blogger Morozov and his scorching truth about the losses near Avdiivka from criticism by Vityazeva and Gasparyan. What can I say..." Gasparyan wrote, following the reports of Morozov's suicide. Vityazeva reposted this message as well.
"Murz," or Andrey Morozov, was a well-known pro-military blogger and serviceman in Russia's 4th Motor Rifle Brigade. Gaining notoriety as a "patriotic" activist and LiveJournal blogger in the mid-2000s, he joined the "Donbass militia" in 2014 on his second attempt. He recently became known for his pessimistic assessments of the so-called Special Military Operation (SMO).
On February 18, Murz reported colossal losses of the Russian army during the storming of Avdiivka—with 16,000 irrecoverably lost, compared to the 5–7,000 losses on the Ukrainian side. He also stated that the military prosecutor's office in St. Petersburg had refused to consider a complaint from a soldier of the 1487th regiment about the command's actions during the assault. According to Morozov, the higher-ups decided not to disclose the losses, allegedly due to criticism from propagandist Vladimir Solovyov.
On February 20, Morozov deleted the post. In his suicide note, he mentioned he was compelled to do so. "Comrade Colonel, at your command, I was forced to delete the post from my Telegram channel ‘Letters from Yania.’ And your command was forced by the old good army collective responsibility. If he does not delete, we will not give them supplies, ammunition, copters, new tanks and BMPs. And your command, in turn, was forced to do so by political prostitutes headed by Vladimir Solovyov, who are too scared to come and pull the trigger themselves. Well, I will do it myself. I will shoot myself, if no one dares to take on this trivial task. And you will be given tanks and copters," wrote "Murz" in his farewell letter.
"Hounded, pecked at, he left. Reading his suicide notes on his channel (he warned they could be deleted). Writes that he was unchurched. But wrote about Faith. Sergeant of the Guard. Committed a grave sin. Was broken. He shot himself. But he willed us to win," a war correspondent under the pseudonym "Kitten" wrote about Morozov's death.
Morozov was known as one of the founders of the Coordination Center for Assistance to Novorossiya and the former leader of the national-Stalinist group "Red Blitzkrieg." In the 2000s, he carried out several "direct action" campaigns, including pelting politicians like Ilya Yashin, publicist Yulia Latynina, and the chief editor of "Moskovsky Komsomolets," Pavel Gusev, with tomatoes.
In 2008, Morozov was sentenced to three years in a penal colony after firing shots at the "United Russia" office on Kutuzovsky Avenue in Moscow. Between 2014 and 2015, as the blogger himself reported, he participated in combat on Ukrainian territory.