Military pilot and author of the Z-channel "Voevoda Broadcasts" Alexey Zemtsov published a video address in which he announced his decision to take his own life.
"If you are watching this video, it means I am already gone. I exercised the right of a final officer's honor," Zemtsov said, making it clear that he was referring to suicide.
Screenshot: Zemtsov's video
As the serviceman recounted, in 2023 he was carrying out combat missions in Berdyansk while simultaneously administering the Telegram channel "Obsessed with War." At the end of that same year, he decided to create his own channel, "Voevoda Broadcasts." After critical posts directed at the command, Zemtsov was removed from flight duties.
He claims that Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces Lieutenant General Vladimir Kravchenko did not like his post saying that Su-34 pilots were forced to do drill training after combat sorties. After this publication, Kravchenko, according to Zemtsov, suggested that he go to a hospital and then resign. Later, the pilot was transferred to another unit.
In the fall of 2025, Zemtsov returned from deployment and found out that his wife had been cheating on him with his assistant. He took his wife's lover into the woods and "beat the f****** out of him, but not too badly." After that, the serviceman was sent to a pretrial detention center on charges of making death threats, damaging property, and extortion on an especially large scale.
This spring, Zemtsov was released from the detention center at the request of military unit commander Colonel Avramenko and was again sent to the front as part of an assault unit.
At the beginning of April, Zemtsov posted on his channel a photograph of a poor-quality helmet belonging to one of the Russian servicemen with the caption "don't laugh." According to him, pressure was put on him soon afterward, and he had to publish a retraction showing high-quality equipment.
Zemtsov says he was returned to aviation under the command of Colonel Avramenko, but the latter's superiors threatened him with a case for abuse of authority. After that, according to the pilot, Avramenko decided to send him back to the detention center, accusing him of "discrediting" the army. Zemtsov believes that the colonel acted on Kravchenko's instructions, on whom he allegedly has compromising material.
The serviceman also appealed to Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin with a request to investigate Lieutenant Kantemirov of the Rostov military investigative department. According to Zemtsov, he tried to trick him into giving testimony.
"I could not withstand the pressure from Kravchenko, Avramenko, and Kantemirov. <...> I am not going to live with the shame, with the 'discrediting' of the Russian army," the blogger said in his suicide message.
Information about Zemtsov's suicide was confirmed by Russian Z-war correspondent Boris Rozhin, author of the channel Colonelcassad.