An explosion in a cafe in St. Petersburg killed Vladlen tartarsky, one of the most famous anti-Ukrainian military bloggers and defenders of Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Edited by| Paul Mitchel

 World  section -  CJ journalist

St. Petersburg – April,2,2023

    Tartarskiy had 560,000 followers on social media and is considered to be one of the most influential of Russia’s so-called mil bloggers who report from the frontlines.

His work as an ultra-nationalist has likely upset Ukraine. But he has also been part of a cohort of commentators to criticize the Kremlin for not doing enough militarily, and he has exposed the collapse of parts of the front lines in Ukraine.

If Tatarsky was deliberately targeted, it would be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure associated with the war in Ukraine.

Video from the blast showed a dead body lying on the pavement and people who had been listening to the talk picking their way through the rubble with cuts and bruises.

The Baza Telegram channel which has close links to Russia’s security services said that the cafe belonged to Yevengy Prigozhin, head of the Kremlin’s Wagner mercenary unit which has been leading Russian attacks on Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Tartarskiy had been a supporter of Wagner and Mr. Prigozhin.

Russian police said that Tartarskiy was the only person killed in the blast, although 15 other people were injured, suggesting that it may have been a targeted attack.

Fifteen other people were injured in the attack

The explosion ripped through a cafe where Vladlen Tatarsky was holding a 'creative evening'

The explosion ripped through a cafe where Vladlen Tatarsky was holding a 'creative evening'

“The power of the explosive device in the cafe in St Petersburg amounted to more than 200 grams of TNT,” Baza quoted Russian police as saying.

Tatarskiy has reported widely from the frontlines during the conflict and was considered particularly anti-Ukrainian, even among the hardcore nationalist community.

He last updated his Telegram feed at 2 pm, a few hours before he was killed, urging the Russian army to use cluster bombs against the Ukrainian army, praising Wagner adverts that he had seen across Russia, and raging against plans to build a mosque near a Russian Orthodox church in Moscow.

Russia's Federal Security Service accused Ukraine's secret services last August of killing Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist, in a car bomb attack near Moscow that President Vladimir Putin called "evil". Ukraine denied involvement.

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