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Pro-Kremlin military blogger dead days after reporting massive Russian losses in Avdiivka

From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio in London

A pro-Kremlin Russian military blogger, Andrey Morozov, has reportedly died just days after he reported that Russia had suffered massive losses during its assault on the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka. Several well-informed pro-Russian military bloggers as well as Russian state news agencies and newspapers reported he had died by suicide.

What was he writing about: Morozov, known as "Murz" on Telegram, claimed Moscow had lost around 16,000 soldiers and 300 armored vehicles since it started its assault in October. CNN cannot verify Morozov's estimates. That post drew severe criticism from several Russian propagandists and has since been deleted from his Telegram account. 

Here's what he said in his last few posts:

• He announced his apparent intention to take his life, calling on his readers not to mourn him and asking that he be buried in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) — the Russian name for the Ukrainian region of Luhansk, whose annexation by Moscow is considered illegal by most of the international community.
• Morozov complained he was being bullied because of his report about Avdiivka and said he was ordered to delete the post by someone he described as “Comrade Colonel.”
• He also shared his will and complained about the shortage of weapons for Russian troops at the front.

Why this matters: Pro-Russian military bloggers have enjoyed some freedom to criticize the Russian military and the way the Ministry of Defense was prosecuting the war in Ukraine. After the failed uprising by former Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, Moscow began to crack down on dissent among ultra-nationalist writers, most notably arresting former soldier and also military blogger Igor Girkin.