Military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky died in an explosion in a café in the center of the Russian metropolis Saint Petersburg on Sunday. This is reported by news agencies, citing the Russian Ministry of the Interior. 16 other people were injured.
40-year-old Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, was killed instantly by the detonation. According to unconfirmed media reports, the war correspondent invited to a “patriotic evening” in the Saint Petersburg café. It is said to belong to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group.
A verified video shared on social networks shows the moment of the explosion.
More than half a million people have subscribed to Tatarsky’s channel on the online service Telegram. He supports the Russian actions in Ukraine.
There was initially no official information about the background to the explosion. According to the investigators’ initial findings, the explosive device was built into a statuette that was presented to Tatarsky as a gift at the meeting.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since it was first published.
