Read previewThe deaths of two seasoned Russian drone operators in Ukraine have stirred a frenzy among pro-Kremlin military bloggers, who say the specialists were sent to fight as regular infantrymen.
As for Gritsai, Russian military bloggers who claimed to personally know him reported that he was a career officer.
AdvertisementRussian backlash and an official responseThe footage sparked an outcry over the weekend among Russian military bloggers, many of whom independently reported that the two men had been killed in battle.
Part of the backlash stems from assessments by on-the-ground pundits that Lysakovsky and Gritsai had been two of the best drone operators at the frontline.
Nothing," Lysakovsky wrote in a message dated September 10.
Persons:
—, Dmitry, Goodwin, Lysakovsky, Sergei, Ernest, Gritsai —, Gritsai, Igor Puzyk, Puzyk, WarTranslated, Dmitri, Alexander Kots, Viktor Goremykin, Valery Gerasimov, Svyatoslav Golikov
Organizations:
Service, Kremlin, Business, Russian Telegram, 87th Rifle Regiment, Donetsk People's, Kommersant, Russian Defense Ministry
Locations:
Russian, Ukraine, Pokrovsk, Donetsk, Estonian, Donetsk People's Republic, Moscow