According to Russian media, Tatarsky was attending an event at the cafe when a woman gifted him a figurine that detonated a few minutes later, killing him and injuring 15 other people.
The woman, who is yet to be identified, has been placed on a wanted list, with eyewitnesses claiming that the blogger appeared to know her. Tatarsky was a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and had made multiple trips to the front lines of the war. He also visited the Kremlin in 2022, where he spoke about Russia's right to conquest.
"We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone as necessary. Just as we like it," he said at the time, according to the BBC.
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Tatarsky had amassed a large following on the Telegram social media platform, with 500,000 followers. Cyber Front Z, which had rented out the cafe, released a statement: "There was a terrorist attack. We took certain security measures, but unfortunately they were not enough," the group wrote. "Condolences to everyone who knew the excellent war correspondent and our friend Vladlen Tatarsky."
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