St Petersburg Cafe Explosion Kills Notorious Russian Pro-War Blogger

Fascinating that people just happened to be filming the cafe when it blew up, reportedly due to explosives hidden in a trophy the victim had just received for his work promoting the war - at a reception he organized to honor himself. 

Marginal improvement over falling out of the window of a tall building. JL  

The Kyiv Independent reports:

An explosion in a cafe in central St. Petersburg killed Russian propagandist and war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 25 other people on April 2. The cafe reportedly once belonged to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group. A video posted to Telegram showed a large detonation going off on the first floor of a  building in St. Petersburg, where Tatarsky was hosting an event for followers of his coverage of the war. According to reports, the explosive was concealed in a trophy Tatarsky received. The explosion happened five minutes after a female visitor handed Tatarsky the trophy

An explosion in a cafe in central St. Petersburg killed Russian propagandist and war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 25 other people on April 2, Russian media reported.

Russia's Interior Ministry confirmed Tatarsky's death, stating that the causes of the explosion are under investigation.

The cafe reportedly once belonged to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of notorious Russian private military organization the Wagner Group, which continues to play a key role in Russia's war against Ukraine.

A video posted to Telegram showed a large detonation going off on the first floor of a large building in St. Petersburg, where Tatarsky was reportedly hosting an event for followers of his coverage of the war.

According to unconfirmed reports on Telegram channels, the explosive was concealed in a trophy that Tatarsky was supposed to receive.

Russian outlet Fontanka reported that according to people in attendance, the explosion happened five minutes after a female visitor handed Tatarsky the trophy, thought to contain several hundred grams of explosive material.

A screenshot of a video circulated on Russian social media reportedly showing propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky receiving the trophy allegedly containing the explosives that killed him at an event in St Petersburg on April 2, 2023. (Telegram)

Tatarsky, who was born Maksim Fomin in the now-occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine, was one of the most well-known "independent" propaganda correspondents, consistently agitating for the further conquering of Ukrainian territory.

A photo of Russian propagandist and military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky posted on his personal Telegram account, which has over 560,000 followers. (Telegram)

The military blogger's Telegram channel, where he posted news, analysis, video and photo material from the front lines has over half a million followers.

Tatarsky reportedly served time in prison in Ukraine since 2011 but managed to join the Russian armed forces during the beginning of Russia's war in 2014.