A famous Russian military blogger has been killed and 19 others were injured in an explosion in St Petersburg while he was giving a talk in a packed Russian cafe. The 40-year-old blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky was a vocal supporter of Russia‘s war in Ukraine, reported The Mirror.
He had reported from the Ukraine frontline and gained particular notoriety last year after posting a video filmed inside the Kremlin where he said “We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone as necessary. Just as we like it.”
Law enforcement agents told Russian news agency TASS that “an improvised explosive device that went off in a cafe in St Petersburg was stuffed with submunitions. “
Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had well-over 560,000 followers on Telegram.
The TASS source added: “The improvised explosive device was hidden in a figurine that was presented to war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, after which it went off.”
A video of the incident showed a dead body lying on the pavement.
The Baza Telegram channel which has close links to Russia’s security services said that the cafe belonged to Yevengy Prigozhin, head of the Kremlin’s Wagner mercenary unit which has been leading Russian attacks on Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Tartarsky had been a supporter of Wagner and Mr Prigozhin.
Russian police said that Tartarsky was the only person killed in the blast, although 15 other people were injured, suggesting that it may have been a targeted attack.
READ MORE: Ex-CIA chief says Putin is ‘dead man walking’ as ‘uprising’ looms
Baza quoted Russian police as saying: “The power of the explosive device in the cafe in St Petersburg amounted to more than 200 grams of TNT.
At around 2pn, he updated his Telegram feed, a few hours before he was killed, urging the Russian army to use cluster bombs against the Ukrainian army, praising Wagner adverts that he had seen across Russia and raging against plans to build a mosque near a Russian Orthodox church in Moscow.
“It’s nice to see such outdoor advertising. I also saw Wagner adverts in Rostov,” he wrote today under a photo of an advert for the mercenary group in Moscow.
“But in many cities this is not yet the case. I hope the only reason is that they simply have not had time to order them.”
The avatar of Tatarsky’s Telegram channel was a skull and crossbones, similar to the Wagner branding.
According to The Mirror, an improvised device the “size of a bar of soap” was blown up near the stage in the Street Bar cafe.
An eyewitness said: “Suddenly the explosive wave erupted, smoke was everywhere, and people ran.
“When I went back to look for my phone, I saw three or four lying on the floor.”
Reports from interior sources cited by Russia’s RIA news agency said the bomb was hidden in a statue presented to the blogger as a gift. He was allegedly handed the figurine by an unnamed woman in a cafe in the city.
