(CNN) A prominent Russian military blogger was killed in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg on Sunday, officials said, in what appeared to be a brazen attack on a high-profile pro-Kremlin figure.
Vladlen Tatarsky died when an explosion ripped through the cafe where he was performing as a guest of a pro-war group called Cyber Front Z. Authorities said they are treating the case as a suspected murder.
25 other people were injured in the blast, of whom 19 were hospitalized, the city’s governor said. Six people are in critical condition, the Russian Ministry of Health said. Investigators questioned everyone who was in the cafe, state media reported. Photos from the crime scene showed extensive damage to the building where the cafe was located.
The Russian Investigative Committee for St. Petersburg said it had launched a murder investigation. Investigators and forensic specialists were at the scene, the agency said, and they were working to determine the circumstances of the blast. The Russian Interior Ministry also confirmed that Tatarsky was killed in the blast.
St. Petersburg prosecutor Viktor Melnik traveled to the scene of the crime to coordinate the actions of emergency services and law enforcement agencies, TASS reported.
Investigators and emergency services personnel work at the scene of an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 2, 2023.
Reports: Explosives hidden in a “figure”.
Russian media reports suggested that Tatarsky may have been killed by a device hidden in a figurine presented to him by a woman before the blast. Russian state news media, citing law enforcement agencies and eyewitness accounts, said the woman attended the event where Tatarsky was speaking.
Ria Novosti quoted a witness as saying: “This woman was sitting at our table. I saw her from behind when she was turned away. When she gave him the figurine, she took a different seat by the window and left her phone at our table.”
The witness added: “The presenter on stage took the figure out of the box and showed it, Vladlen held it for a while. They put them back and just after the explosion happened… I was running and my ears were blocked. There were many people with blood on them.”
Independent Telegram channel Astra Press quoted a witness as saying: “Everyone rushed to the exit when the explosion happened. I myself only saw the girl up to the moment of the explosion, when she gave a gift. She looked like an ordinary person.”
CNN is unable to independently verify the claims.
The blast happened during an event hosted by the “Cyber Front Z” movement, a pro-war Telegram company. “Dear friends and colleagues,” the group said in a post on Sunday. “During our regular event in a cafe we rented, there was a terrorist attack. We have taken certain security measures, but unfortunately they were not sufficient. Our condolences go to the families and friends of the victims.”
“Separate condolences to everyone who knew the wonderful war correspondent and our good friend Vladlen Tatarsky. We are now working with law enforcement and hope that all those responsible will be punished,” the post said.
Who was Tatarsky?
Tatarsky supported the war in Ukraine and had gained popularity by providing analysis and commentary since the start of what Russia called its “military special operation”.
Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, launched his Telegram channel in 2019 and named it in honor of the protagonist of Victor Pelevin’s novel Generation ‘P’, according to Russian state news agency Vesti. Since then he had written several books.
Before that, in 2014, Tatarsky fought with the Donbass resistance against Ukrainian nationalists, according to Vesti, citing public sources.
Tatarsky had more than half a million followers on Telegram, and although he was pro-war aggressive, he had sometimes criticized Russia’s backlash in Ukraine.
In May last year, he told CNN that he was not criticizing the entire operation but “individual episodes” and that he still believed Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine.
Tatarsky rose to prominence after attending the Kremlin ceremony marking the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
Sunday’s explosion commemorates the car bombing that killed Darya Dugina, daughter of influential ultranationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin, in August 2022. Alexander Dugin is credited with being the architect or “spiritual leader” of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Dugina and Tatarsky moved in the same circles and had been photographed together on several occasions.
finger pointing
No evidence has yet been presented as to who carried out the attack on Tatarsky, but Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed the finger at Ukraine without providing any evidence.
“Russian journalists are constantly faced with threats of retaliation from the Kiev regime and its inspirers, which are increasingly being implemented,” Zakharova said.
A Ukrainian official suspected that the killing was due to internal fighting in Russia. Mykhailo Podolyak, Advisor to the President’s Office, wrote on Twitter: “Spiders eat each other in a jar.
Zakharova paid tribute to Tatarskiy. “The professional activity of Vladlen Tatarskiy, his service to the Motherland, aroused hatred under the Kiev regime. He was dangerous for them, but boldly went to the end and did his duty.” Said Zakharova.
CNN’s Tim Lister and Taras Zadorozhnyy contributed to this story.