Vladlen Tatarsky, a well-known military blogger in Russia, was murdered in a cafe explosion, according to the Russian Interior Ministry.
A bombing at Street Food Bar No. 1 left at least 19 people wounded.
Social media videos depict an explosion and injured individuals on the ground. It is unclear who was in charge of the explosion.
Maxim Fomin, also known as Vladlen Tatarsky, was a strong supporter of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
When the device exploded, he was a guest speaker at a gathering that the cafe was hosting.
He had been covering the conflict in Ukraine from the front lines, and last year he became particularly well-known after publishing a video shot inside the Kremlin in which he declared, “We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, and we will loot everyone as required. Exactly the way we like it.”
President Vladimir Putin attended a ceremony in the Kremlin on that date, where he announced Russia’s annexation of four partially occupied territories of Ukraine. International organisations opposed that land grab. President Putin was born and raised in St. Petersburg, where he initially attained notoriety.
A bomb was allegedly concealed in a statue that was sent to Tatarsky in a box as a gift, according to interior ministry sources cited by Russia’s RIA news agency.
Yevgeny used to be the owner of the cafe that was attacked on Sunday.
On Telegram, Tatarsky has more than 500,000 followers. Aspects of the Russian campaign in Ukraine have been criticised by him and other military bloggers.
On Telegram, a group going by the name Cyber Force Z claimed to be “Russia’s information army” and claimed to have rented out the cafe for the evening.
It posted on Telegram, saying, “There was a terrorist attack. We took certain security precautions, but they were regrettably insufficient. Condolences to everyone who knew Vladlen Tatarsky, an exceptional war correspondent and a close friend, it read.
Darya Dugina, a journalist and well-known supporter of the Russian military, was killed by a car bombing last August in the vicinity of Moscow. She was the offspring of Mr. Putin’s close friend and ultranationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin.
Prigozhin, the notorious Wagner mercenary group’s leader, according to the St. Petersburg news outlet Fontanka.
