Pro-Kremlin outlet deletes post reporting 13,000 Russian soldiers dead in Ukraine

Authored by washingtonexaminer.com and submitted by Rocco89
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A pro-Kremlin media outlet published and then deleted a post on social media Thursday that reported over 13,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The publication, Readovka, posted on the Russian social media platform VK that the Defense Ministry had announced in a closed briefing that 13,414 Russian soldiers had been killed and 7,000 more were missing in Ukraine. Additionally, the post claimed that the sinking of the Moskva warship had left 116 dead and more than 100 missing. The post was quickly deleted by Readovka. The outlet claimed its VK page had been hacked.

"At a closed briefing, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced data on losses during a special operation on the territory of Ukraine. Irretrievable losses on the Russian side amount to 13,414 soldiers. About 7,000 more people are considered missing," Readovka's deleted post said.

"Figures for the cruiser Moskva were also announced: 116 dead were confirmed, more than 100 people are considered missing. The Deputy Minister of Defense noted that at the moment the calculation of the number of dead is difficult due to the intensity of hostilities and inaccessibility to the bodies at the battlefield," the post continued.

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In a statement, Readovka blamed hackers for the post.

"Yesterday late in the evening, our community in VK was hacked, a record was published from the territory of a neighboring state about a certain 'closed' briefing of the Ministry of Defense. The post was promptly deleted, the source of the hack was identified," Readovka said. "The authors were not interested in the fact that closed briefings of the Defense Ministry do not exist in principle, the main thing was to report on the 3 million losses of our army — in general, the usual routine episode of that very information war, to which we did not even attach importance."

A similar incident occurred in March when the pro-Kremlin, oligarch-owned tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published and then deleted an article with Russian killed in action figures much higher than the Kremlin's public figures. That article also cited the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the incident was blamed on hackers.

The last tally of Russians killed in action in Ukraine released by the Kremlin was on March 25. According to the Russian government, only 1,351 of its soldiers had been killed at that point in the war.

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In March, NATO estimated that between 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers had died in Ukraine since the Feb. 24 invasion. The Ukrainian armed forces claimed that more than 20,000 members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's army have been killed in action.

turkishdeli on April 22nd, 2022 at 09:49 UTC »

13,000 dead and 7,000 missing. That's 20k casualties excluding wounded soldiers. Yeah, the Russian military have been absolutely decimated.

EightandaHalf-Tails on April 22nd, 2022 at 09:48 UTC »

Damn "Reply All" strikes again 😂

Rocco89 on April 22nd, 2022 at 09:31 UTC »

For the link averse:

A pro-Kremlin media outlet published and then deleted a post on social media Thursday that reported over 13,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense. The publication, Readovka, posted on the Russian social media platform VK that the Defense Ministry had announced in a closed briefing that 13,414 Russian soldiers had been killed and 7,000 more were missing in Ukraine. Additionally, the post claimed that the sinking of the Moskva warship had left 116 dead and more than 100 missing. The post was quickly deleted by Readovka. The outlet claimed its VK page had been hacked.

"At a closed briefing, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced data on losses during a special operation on the territory of Ukraine. Irretrievable losses on the Russian side amount to 13,414 soldiers. About 7,000 more people are considered missing," Readovka's deleted post read.

"Figures for the cruiser Moskva were also announced: 116 dead were confirmed, more than 100 people are considered missing. The Deputy Minister of Defense noted that at the moment the calculation of the number of dead is difficult due to the intensity of hostilities and inaccessibility to the bodies at the battlefield," the deleted post continued.

In a statement, Readkova blamed hackers for the post.

"Yesterday late in the evening, our community in VK was hacked, a record was published from the territory of a neighboring state about a certain 'closed' briefing of the Ministry of Defense. The post was promptly deleted, the source of the hack was identified," Readkova said, adding that "the authors were not interested in the fact that closed briefings of the Defense Ministry do not exist in principle, the main thing was to report on the 3 million losses of our army — in general, the usual routine episode of that very information war, to which we did not even attach importance."

A similar incident occurred in March when the pro-Kremlin, oligarch-owned tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published and then deleted an article with Russian killed in action figures much higher than the Kremlin's public figures. That article cited the Russian Ministry of Defense as well, and the incident was also blamed on hackers.

The last tally of Russians killed in action in Ukraine released by the Kremlin was on March 25. According to the Russian government, only 1,351 of its soldiers had been killed at that point in the war.

In March, NATO estimated that between 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine since the Feb. 24 invasion. The Ukrainian Armed Forces claim that more than 20,000 members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's army have been killed in action.