There are two stories out today that caught my attention. What they have in common is a brutal Russian crackdown on anyone who strays from the approved narrative about the war in Ukraine. First up, you may have heard about Russia big advance in Avdiivka, Ukraine. After months of trying to take this relatively small town, they finally did it. It was Russia’s first real progress on the ground since the Wagner group took Bakhmut last year.
But this big victory came at a significant cost. A pro-Russian military blogger released what he claimed were the real casualty number from the battle. He was immediately hounded by the Russian military and pro-Russian propagandists. As of today he is reportedly dead by suicide.
The blogger, Andrei Morozov, claimed in his post that Russia had lost 16,000 men and 300 armored vehicles in its assault on the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which the Russians…
