Vladlen Tatarsky was “dangerous” for Ukraine and died “while fulfilling his duty”: the Russian Foreign Ministry thus paid tribute to him. The well-known Russian military blogger was killed in an explosion at a cafe in central St. Petersburg in northwestern Russia on Sunday, according to the Russian Interior Ministry. The governor of the city, Alexandre Beglov clarified that 25 people are injured, 19 of whom are hospitalized.
“A girl” would “probably” have brought the explosive device, according to a source quoted by the Ria Novosti agency. “There was a figurine in the box: a gift intended for Vladlen Tatarskiï”, adds this source. Aged 40 and born in the Ukrainian Donbass, Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, was a well-known figure in the military blogosphere in Russia, with more than half a million subscribers on his Telegram channel.
A cafe rented for the evening
According to the first elements communicated, “at 6:13 p.m. (5:13 p.m., in Paris), the police of the Vasileostrovskiï district received information according to which an explosion had occurred in a café on the Universitetskaïa quay, at number 25”.
According to details given to Tass by the local prosecutor’s office, the explosion took place in the café “Street Food Bar No. 1″ located along the Neva, not far from the historic center of Saint Petersburg. The Cyber Front Z group, which describes itself on social media as “Russia’s information soldiers”, said they had rented the cafe for the evening. “There was a terrorist attack. We took some security measures but unfortunately they were not enough,” the group said on Telegram.
“St. Petersburg police and emergency services are also working on the spot. The causes and circumstances of the incident are being established,” the Russian Interior Ministry said. Saint Petersburg prosecutor Viktor Melnik went to the scene, the Tass news agency said, adding that “an investigation has been opened”.
The victim had fought with the Donbass separatists
Vladlen Tatarsky has developed his community on Telegram, in particular by publishing, since the start of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine, videos analyzing the situation on the ground and providing advice for those mobilized, according to Tass. He said he supported Russian intervention in his Ukrainian neighbor.
In the wake of the start of the war in 2014, he fought for several months in pro-Russian separatist militias in eastern Ukraine, according to local news outlet Fontanka.
The government deplores the lack of reaction from Westerners
The Cyber Front Z group, which describes itself on social media as “Russia’s information soldiers”, said they had rented the cafe for the evening for an event. “There was a terrorist attack. We took some security measures but unfortunately they were not enough,” the group said on Telegram.
The Russian Foreign Ministry paid tribute on Sunday evening to an influential military blogger, support for the invasion of Ukraine and condemned the lack of reaction from Westerners. Bloggers like Vladlen Tatarsky “are defenders of the truth”, Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram, adding that the lack of response from Western governments, “despite their concern for the well-being being journalists and the free press, says a lot”.
In August 2022, the Russian FSB security services accused their Ukrainian counterparts of having killed Daria Douguina, daughter of a reputed ideologue close to the Kremlin, who died in the explosion of her car near Moscow. However, such events in Russia have been very rare since the start of the military offensive in Ukraine more than a year ago.