Friends of noted Russian blogger Aleksandr Morozov said on February 21 that he committed suicide after citing unnamed sources online saying that Russian troops might have lost up to 16,000 troops while fighting for the Ukrainian city of Avdiyivka. A day earlier, Morozov, who has been fighting along Russia-backed separatists and Russian troops in Ukraine's east since 2014, wrote on Telegram that his military commanders forced him to delete the post about Russian losses. On February 17, Ukrainian forces withdrew from Avdiyivka after four months of a brutal battle with Russian soldiers. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
