On Sunday evening, an explosion occurred in a cafe, and many people, including Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, were injured. One person has been confirmed dead, and at least 19 people have been injured in the incident, which authorities say was caused by an unmarked explosive object. An investigation has been launched into Tatarsky’s death, and reports suggest that he was attending a meeting inside the cafe when a statuette containing a bomb was handed over to him. The cafe is believed to have belonged to Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, a Russian private militia fighting in Ukraine. Tatarsky was in favor of the war in Ukraine and has ties to the Kremlin. The Nationalist Cyber Z Front was holding a discussion evening in the cafe when the explosion occurred. The cause of the explosion remains unclear.
It must have been full of people inside the cafe when the explosion occurred on Sunday evening. Many were injured, including by shrapnel. Some of the injured have been taken to hospital, writes the Moscow Times.
The Russian Interior Ministry says one person has died. At least 19 people are said to have been injured according to the authorities, who state that it was an unmarked explosive object that allegedly blew up in the cafe, writes TT. A murder investigation has been launched.
The dead one is the one Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who, according to a source for the Russian state news agency Ria, was having a meeting inside the cafe at the time of the explosion.
According to Ria’s source, a box with a statuette was handed over to Tatarskij inside the cafe. The statuette is said to have contained the bomb that caused the explosion.
According to Russian media, the cafe must have previously belonged to the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The Russian private militia is fighting with thousands of men in Ukraine.
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Photo: Alexander Demianchuk/TASS
Vladlen Tatarskij, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, has over 560,000 followers on Telegram, writes Reuters. He has ties to the Kremlin and is in favor of the war in Ukraine, although he has also been critical of Russia’s conduct of the war.
Last September, Tatarsky attended a ceremony organized by the Kremlin to announce Russia’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine – something that most UN countries have condemned and said is illegal.
– We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will deprive everyone of what we need. Everything will be as we want it, Tatarsky said in a video clip at the time.
Photo: AP
Nationalist Cyber Z Front must have held a discussion evening inside the cafe when it exploded. Kiber Z Front is an organization in Saint Petersburg that supports the war in Ukraine and organizes discussion nights every weekend. Russian Telegram channels suggest that Tatarsky participated in Cyber Z Front’s discussion evening, but this has not been confirmed, writes Sky News.
Several Russian military bloggers have reacted to the news of Vladlen Tatarsky’s death.
“He was in the hottest places of the military operation and he always came out alive. But the war found him in a cafe in Saint Petersburg,” said Semyon Pegov who blogs under War Gonzo.
Witnesses told the Moscow Times that the explosion was powerful. The sidewalk was littered with broken window glass.
It is still unclear who or who are behind the explosion.
If Tatarsky was the target, it is the second assassination of a high-profile figure in Russia possibly linked to the Ukraine war. In August last year, the Russian security service FSB accused Ukraine’s security service of having killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist, with a car bomb near Moscow, writes Reuters. Ukraine denied involvement in the crime.
The text is updated