A Russian blogger smiles as he holds a bust of himself in the air, unaware that it contains 200g of TNT that would kill him instantly.
Vladlen Tatarsky killed while arguing in a St. Petersburg café on the banks of the Neva River.
Eyewitnesses said he killed with a bomb hidden inside a statuette given to him by a woman known as Nastya.
He killed in the blast that injured about 35 more people.
Now, a video has emerged in which Tatarsky appears presented with what is believed to be the bust containing the explosives.
The Russian patriotic organization that organized the occasion said it had taken security measures that were “insufficient. “
Russia’s investigative commission, the state criminal investigation agency, has opened an investigation into murder charges.
Several have reported that the Ukrainian government is guilty of the blogger’s death.
Law enforcement officials told Russia’s TASS news firm that “an improvised explosive device exploded in a St. Petersburg café filled with cluster munitions. “
Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram. Reports suggest he gathered members of the public at an event attended by about a hundred other people at the time of the attack.
A makeshift device the “size of a bar of soap” exploded near the level of the Street Bar cafeteria.
An eyewitness said: “Suddenly, the explosive wave burst, smoke came out and other people ran over.
When I went back to get my phone, I saw 3 or 4 of them mendacity on the floor.
The coffee is believed to belong to the Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin’s boyfriend, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group paramilitary organization.
Several hours before the explosion, Tatarsky praised billboards in Moscow for recruits of Wagner fighters.
“It’s great to see that publicity,” he said.
Another witness said: “There were about a hundred people. A [woman called] Nastya sitting at a table. “
She said she was an artist and sought to show the heroes of Putin’s army special operation.
He reportedly told Tatarsky: “It’s easy. That’s why I’ve only made your bust so far. It’s in the coat closet [at the front of the cafeteria]. “
The witness said: “She went there, took a big box and gave it to him. It was golden.
“He said thank you and put him next to him. She sat in her seat and 3 minutes later there was an explosion.
Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov reported: “According to eyewitnesses, Fomin came over and gave him a statuette, which exploded in his hands.
“Fomin died instantly. “
BAZA media reported that the explosion was radioactivated and that caused the explosion of the plaster figure.
The blogger had reported from the front in Ukraine and Russian state newspaper Russia Today joined Russian militias in Donbass in 2014.
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