Pro-war blogger targeted by brazen cafe blast in Russia that left 25 wounded

A pro-war blogger and Putin loyalist has been killed in a shocking cafe explosion in a brazen, targeted attack that left dozens wounded.

A high-profile Putin ally has been killed in a brazen attack in a popular cafe, with reports suggesting he died after being handed a mysterious statue, which exploded minutes later.

Video has shown the moment Vladlen Tatarsky – whose real name is Maxim Fomin – was given the figurine of himself, supposedly as a gift, by an unknown woman mere moments before the massive blast unfolded on Sunday, with bloodied and wounded victims seen escaping onto the street soon after.

Tatarsky – a prominent war blogger and vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin – died instantly in the St Petersburg cafe, where he had been appearing as a guest of a pro-war group called Cyber Front Z during a packed gathering.

Around 25 other cafe-goers were injured, with 24 rushed to hospital.

Vladlen Tatarsky had been handed a statue with an explosive hidden inside. Picture: vladlentatarskybooks/Telegram

He was pro-Putin and pro-invasion. Picture: vladlentatarskybooks/Telegram

News of the blast and the 40-year-old blogger’s death was confirmed by Russia’s interior ministry on Telegram, as well as local media, in the wake of the attack.

The blast occurred at the Street Food Bar No. 1 in the heart of the city, and a murder inquiry has since been opened by authorities.

According to Russia’s TASS news agency, the explosion was “caused by an improvised explosive device hidden inside a statue given to Tatarsky as a gift”.

Meanwhile, Cyber Front Z described it as a “terrorist attack”, and paid tribute to Tatarsky as a “friend” and an “excellent war correspondent”.

“Now we are co-operating with law enforcement agencies and we hope that all those responsible will be punished,” the group added.

The attack is yet another blow for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: Aleksey Babushkin/Sputnik/AFP

Russia’s foreign ministry also celebrated Tatarsky in the wake of his death, with spokeswoman Maria Zakharova describing him and other bloggers as “defenders of the truth”.

“Russian journalists constantly feel the threat of reprisals from the Kyiv regime,” she said on Telegram. “It is thanks to Russian war correspondents that the world sees true, operational images and finds out what is happening in Ukraine.”

She added that Tatarsky was “dangerous” for Ukraine “but bravely went on until the end, fulfilling his duty”.

Russian police investigators inspect the damaged cafe after the blast. Picture: Olga Maltseva/AFP

Dozens of others were injured in the explosion. Picture: Olga Maltseva/AFP

Tatarsky had built up a loyal fanbase of more that half a million followers for his pro-Russian reporting of the Ukraine invasion.

Last September, he attended a Kremlin ceremony where Mr Putin announced Russia had annexed four regions of Ukraine, stating in a video recorded at the event: “We’ll conquer everyone, we’ll kill everyone, we’ll loot whoever we need to, and everything will be just as we like it.”

He had regularly travelled with Russian troops into Ukraine but had recently been speaking out against Russia’s defence ministry following months of military setbacks, once memorably blasting high-ranking officials as “untrained idiots”.

While the exact circumstances of Tatarsky’s death are still unknown, it appears to be the second suspicious fatality of a pro-invasion voice on Russian soil.

The first occurred last August, when Darya Dugina – the 29-year-old daughter of Putin’s so-called “spiritual guide” Alexander Dugin – died in a fiery car bomb in Moscow which many believe was intended for her ultranationalist father, described as a mastermind of the Ukraine invasion.

A string of other high-profile and wealthy Russians – many of whom had publicly spoken out against the invasion and Putin – have also died under mysterious circumstances since the Ukraine war began more than a year ago.

– With AFP