- A bomb exploded in a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, killing a famous Russian military blogger who advocated escalating the war in Ukraine
- Shortly before the explosion, social media videos showed Vladlen Tatarsky receiving a small statue of him
- Authorities were examining the potential cause of the explosion
According to officials, on Sunday, a well-known Russian military blogger was killed in an explosion in a cafe in St. Petersburg in what appeared to be a brazen attempt on a prominent pro-Kremlin figure.
Vladlen Tatarsky was killed after an explosion ripped through the cafe where he appeared as a guest of the pro-war group Cyber Front Z. According to the authorities, the case is being investigated as a possible murder.
Petersburg Explosion
The explosion injured at least 30 persons, 24 of whom were transported to hospital facilities, according to TASS, citing the Russian Ministry of Health. State-run media said that investigators were interrogating everyone in the cafe, according to CNN.
Russia's Investigative Committee for St. Petersburg stated that a murder probe had been initiated. The agency stated that it had investigators and forensic specialists on the spot, trying to determine the circumstances behind the explosion. The Russian Ministry of the Interior verified that Tatarsky was killed in the explosion.
TASS stated that the prosecutor of St. Petersburg, Viktor Melnik, traveled to the area to coordinate the efforts of emergency services and law enforcement organizations.
According to Russian media accounts, Tatarsky may have been killed by a bomb concealed in a figurine given to him by a lady before the explosion. Russian official media said that the woman attended the event at which Tatarsky spoke, citing law enforcement authorities and eyewitness testimony.
The explosion occurred during an event held by the pro-war Telegram group "Cyber Front Z." "Hello, friends and coworkers," the group said in a Sunday message. "There was a terrorist incident in the cafe we rented during our normal event. We took various security precautions, but they were insufficient. Our sympathies to the victims' families and friends."
"Our condolences are extended to everyone who knew the exceptional war correspondent and our dear friend, Vladlen Tatarsky. Currently, we are cooperating with law enforcement agencies, and we hope that all the perpetrators will be prosecuted," the message stated.
No group has claimed responsibility for the death, which may be the second political assassination of a pro-Putin Russian on Russian soil since the beginning of the war. Experts speculated that the Ukrainian secret agency orchestrated the incident.
It is unknown if the woman who presented him with the statue, which, according to Russian media, was a golden representation of Tatarskiy and carried 200g of TNT, was aware of its contents.
During the debate, a lady who introduced herself as Nastya posed questions and exchanged comments with Tatarsky, according to testimony captured on camera. A witness, Alisa Smotrova, cited Nastya as claiming she had sculpted a bust of the blogger, but security urged her to leave it at the entrance out of concern that it was a bomb.
Nastya and Tatarsky laughed and joked together. She then walked to the door, retrieved the bust, and gave it to Tatarsky. According to reports, he placed the bust on a neighboring table, and an explosion ensued. Smotrova described panicked individuals fleeing the scene, some injured by the smashed glass and covered in blood.
A video uploaded to Russian messaging app channels depicted the cafe following the explosion. Blood-stained tables and chairs were shattered, and glass shards scattered the floor, as per Daily Mail.
Russian media said that authorities were examining the bust as a potential cause of the explosion. At the same time, they have not ruled out the idea that an explosive device was installed in the cafe before the incident.
The Russian Investigative Committee, the nation's premier criminal investigation agency, has begun a murder investigation. No one claimed responsibility officially, but military bloggers and patriotic pundits instantly put their finger on Ukraine and connected the attack to the murder of nationalist TV commentator Darya Dugina in August of last year. On the outskirts of Moscow, she was killed when a remote-controlled explosive device concealed in her SUV detonated.
Russian authorities attributed Dugina's death to Ukraine's military intelligence, although Kyiv denied involvement. Tatarsky was acclaimed by her father, nationalist philosopher and political theorist Alexander Dugin, who ardently supports the invasion of Ukraine, as an "immortal" hero who sacrificed his life to preserve the Russian people.
Since the beginning of fighting in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukrainian officials have refrained from taking credit for several fires, explosions, and apparent murders in Russia. Simultaneously, leaders in Kyiv have embraced similar incidents with jubilation and insisted on Ukraine's right to undertake assaults in Russia.
A senior government official in Ukraine attributed the explosion that murdered Tatarsky to domestic unrest. Tatarsky, who often filed stories from Ukraine, was the alias of Maxim Fomin, whose Telegram chat app channel had amassed more than 560,000 followers.
Tatarsky, born in the Donbas, the industrial hub of Ukraine, worked as a coal miner before launching a furniture business. When he got into financial trouble, he robbed a bank and was sentenced to prison. Once a Russia-backed separatist revolt swept the Donbas in 2014, weeks after Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula, he escaped from detention. Before resorting to blogging, he joined separatist insurgents and fought on the front lines.
Tatarsky was well-known for his bombastic statements and passionate pro-war rhetoric. The dissemination of information concerning Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been greatly facilitated and influenced by military blogs. They have virtually unanimously supported the campaign's objectives but have occasionally criticized Russian military strategy and tactical actions.
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Russian Commander Blames Ukraine
Simultaneously, the Kremlin has silenced alternative voices opposing the conflict by shuttering news outlets, restricting public access to information, and imprisoning opponents. The restaurant was formerly owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private force fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
Cyber Force Z, which describes itself on social media as "Russia's information troops," stated that it had rented the cafe for the evening. The bomb damaged the building's façade. ABC News reported that Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed commander of the Russian-occupied portion of Ukraine's Donetsk province, indicated that Ukraine was to blame.
A presidential adviser from Ukraine stated that 'internal terrorism' was on the rise in Russia. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, stated on Twitter that it was only a matter of time before Russia was consumed by what he termed domestic terrorism.
Sunday, the Russian foreign ministry paid tribute to a popular military blogger who was killed by a bomb in a St. Petersburg cafe and criticized Western nations for failing to respond to the attack.
Maria Zakharova, a ministry spokesperson, stated on Telegram that bloggers like Vladlen Tatarsky are "defenders of the truth," adding that the lack of response from Western countries "despite their concern for the safety of journalists and the free press speaks for itself."
In June, after Russian troops were expelled from Snake Island by Ukraine, he applauded Putin's fighters' "heroic fight." Like other Putin apologists, he had criticized the Russian army for not fighting more viciously in Ukraine. Tatarsky's execution follows the murder of Darya Dugina, daughter of prominent ultranationalist Alexander Dugin, in a car bombing in Moscow in August of last year.
The Federal Security Agency of Russia accused Ukraine's secret agencies of carrying out the strike, which Putin termed "evil." Ukraine denied involvement. Putin appointed one of them to his human rights committee just last year. They were shocked at the news of Tatarsky's passing.
Last year, following the takeover of four Ukrainian areas by the Kremlin last year, Tatarsky posted a video in which he vowed: "That is all. We will defeat everyone, kill everyone, and rob everyone if necessary. It will all be to our liking. God be with you."
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