Video of the moment the Russian military blogger Vladen Tatarsky takes a gift, which according to Russian media, contained a bomb that cost him his life, presented by the Russian TV channel REN. Another video shows the moment of the explosion at the “Patriotis” cafe, where the event was taking place.

A Russian website from St. Petersburg reported that the explosion occurred in a cafe once owned by Yevgeny Prigozhinthe founder and head of the Wagner mercenary army.

Sixteen more people were injured in an explosion, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing emergency services.

“The power of the explosive device was over 200 grams of TNT,” a law enforcement source told TASS.

Sixteen more people were injured in an explosion, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing emergency services.

“The power of the explosive device was over 200 grams of TNT,” a law enforcement source told TASS.

Tatarskywhose real name was Maxim Fomin, had more than 560,000 followers on the Telegram app and was one of the most featured military bloggers. On his blog he did critical comments about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Tatarsky was among hundreds of attendees at a ceremony in the Kremlin last September to announce Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian provinces, which Moscow partially holds. The annexation was condemned as illegal by most countries at the UN.

Vladen Tatarsky

There is currently no indication of who is responsible for the incident.

If Tatarsky was a target of a bomb blast, it would be the second killing of a person on Russian soil related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Federal Security Service he blamed the Ukrainian secret services last August that they killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of an ultranationalist, in a car bomb attack near Moscow, an attack that President Vladimir Putin described as “vicious”. Ukraine has denied any involvement in the case.