Moment pro-Putin blogger is handed bomb disguised as statuette that killed him
A Russian blogger grins as he holds aloft a bust of himself, unaware it was containing 200g of TNT which would kill him instantly.
Vladlen Tatarsky was killed as he led a discussion at a cafe in St Petersburg on the bank of the Neva River.
Eyewitness reports suggested he had been killed by a bomb hidden inside a statuette he was handed by a woman known as Nastya.
He was killed in the blast which injured around 35 other people.
Now video has emerged of Tatarsky being presented with what is believed to be the bust containing the explosives.
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The patriotic Russian group which organised the event said it had taken security precautions which it described as “insufficient."
Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky moments before the explosion which killed him (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
Tatasrsky was seen holding the statue in his hands in the videoRussia's Investigative Committee, the state's top criminal investigation agency, opened a probe on charges of murder.
Several have suggested the Ukrainian government was responsible for the death of the blogger.
Law enforcement agents told Russian news agency TASS that "an improvised explosive device that went off in a cafe in St Petersburg was stuffed with submunitions."
The TNT was hidden inside the little statueTatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had well-over 560,000 followers on Telegram. Reports indicate he was meeting with members of the public at an event attended by around 100 people at the time of the attack.
An improvised device the "size of a bar of soap" was blown up near the stage in the Street Bar cafe.
An eyewitness said: "Suddenly the explosive wave erupted, smoke was everywhere, and people ran.
When I went back to look for my phone, I saw three or four lying on the floor.”
Vladlen Tatarsky died in the blast (Sky news)The cafe is reportedly owned by Russian oligarch and crony Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the paramilitary organisation.
Several hours before the explosion, Tatarsky praised advertising hoardings in Moscow seeking recruits for Wagner fighters.
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“It's nice to see such outdoor advertising,” he said.
Another eyewitness said: ”There were about 100 people. A [woman called] Nastya was sitting at a table."
An investigation into the explosion is ongoing (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)She said she was an artist and wanted to show the heroes of Putin’s special military operation.
She purportedly told Tatarsky: “It’s not easy. That's why I've only made your bust so far. It's in the coat wardrobe [at the entrance of the cafe].”
The eyewitness said: “She went there, took a big box, and gave it to him. It was gilded.
“He said thank you and put it next to him. She sat down in her place, and three minutes later there was an explosion.
25 people were injured in the blast (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov reported: "According to eyewitnesses, a female approached Fomin and gave him a figurine, which exploded in his hands.
"Fomin was killed on the spot."
BAZA media reported that the explosion was radio-activated and this triggered the explosion in the plaster figurine.
The blogger had reported from the frontline in and Russian state news Today said he joined Russian militias in the Donbas in 2014.
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