Multiple well-known pro-Kremlin military bloggers on Wednesday reported that an unspecified amount of Russian soldiers were killed by a Ukrainian HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) strike while waiting for their commander to deliver a motivational speech.
Newsweek was unable to independently verify the reports, but prominent Russian bloggers such as Rybar and Starshe Eddy wrote about the alleged incident they said occurred near Kreminna—a city in Ukraine's eastern region of Luhansk—on their Telegram channels.
The reports from the so-called "milbloggers" come as the Kremlin has increasingly acknowledged the influence of such voices. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally met with several military bloggers to discuss his war in Ukraine. According to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War think tank, Putin's goal of the televised event was to "assuage widespread discontent in the Russian information space" about recent attacks in the Belgorod region, drone strikes inside Russian territory and "border security in general."
Despite Putin's gesture of goodwill, the reported HIMARS strike resulted in anger from milbloggers.
"If by the middle of the second year of the war there are commanders who...build personnel in one big pile, and then wait for the enemy artillery to strike, then such commanders should be shot," Starshe Eddy wrote on Telegram.
"Near Kreminna, a tragic incident occurred in one of the divisions that were about to go on the offensive. For two hours, people stood in a crowd in one place and waited for the division commander to say his motivating word," Rybar wrote.
The blogger continued, "But instead of him, the HIMARS and enemy artillery had their say."
None of the bloggers named the division commander, who was accused of "criminal stupidity" by Rybar, nor did anyone provide an estimate of victims killed in their accounts.
"Stand in a column for two hours in one place! Well, what are you doing, father commanders, you command people," the Russian Telegram channel Two Majors channel posted.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
The alleged HIMARS incident was not the only major topic of discussion Wednesday amongst military bloggers. Reports began circulating on Telegram that Adam Delimkhanov, a Russian lawmaker and close ally of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, had been wounded in Ukraine.
Kadyrov himself took to Telegram to plead for help locating his friend.
"I ask Ukrainian intelligence to provide information on exactly what place and what positions were struck so that I can still find my dear brother," Kadyrov said, adding he would provide a "generous reward" for information.
However, Kadyrov later returned to Telegram to say Delimkhanov was "alive and well and not even injured."
The Chechen leader also denounced those who had spread what he said—without offering evidence—was a ploy from Ukraine intelligence.
