By Chris Samuel @chrisjesamuel
Prominent Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky has been killed and dozens of people were injured in an explosion at a cafe in St Petersburg, according to reports.
It was initially reported that Mr Tatarsky had died in the blast, which has since been confirmed by the Russian interior ministry.
At least 25 others were injured in the attack, which is thought to have been caused by an explosive device, according to sources quoted by Russian news agencies.
Mr Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had over 560,000 followers on Telegram, one of the most popular social platforms in Russia, and was among the most prominent of the influential military bloggers providing commentary on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
There is currently no indication of who was responsible for the blast, which occurred at at the “Street Bar” cafe in the city.
A St Petersburg website said the cafe had at one time belonged to Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, an elite paramilitary force that is fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
According to media and military bloggers, Mr Tatarsky had been meeting with members of the public and that a woman presented him with a statuette which apparently exploded.
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