How does Veeam remove expired archived file versions

[talltim]

I recently enabled the setting Archive recent file versions on my File backups so the jobs created another copy of these file in our Azure repository.
When it got to the time where the oldest versions were due to be removed I started getting errors about missing blob files.
I logged a call with support about this, but as I was going on vacation I disabled the setting again so the backups would run without worrying my colleagues.
However, now looking at Azure stats, I can see high instances of deletions, but more importantly (costly), high egress bandwidth.
My question is, when removing aged out archives, does Veeam read the backup files and edit them as data is removed until all data is removed after which it deletes them? This would explain the high egress bandwidth

[HannesK]

Hello,
no, deletions don't download data. If that was the case, that would be a bug. I suggest to investigate with support. Please post the case number for reference.

Best regards,
Hannes