An explosion in a St. Petersburg cafe in Russia has killed prominent military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, the country's interior ministry has confirmed.
According to the police, at least 16 people were injured in the bomb blast, according to the BBC.
It is not clear who was responsible for the blast and no group has taken responsibility for it. But videos posted on social media show how the explosion injured people on the street.
Vladlen Tatarsky (real name Maxim Fomin) was a vocal supporter of Russia's war in Ukraine.
He was a guest speaker at an event hosted by the cafe when the bomb went off.
He had reported from the Ukraine frontline and gained particular notoriety in 2022 after posting a video filmed inside the Kremlin in which he said, "We will defeat everyone, we will kill everyone, we will rob everyone as necessary. Just as we like it."
The occasion for that was a Kremlin ceremony hosted by President Vladimir Putin, who proclaimed Russia's annexation of four partly-occupied regions of Ukraine. That land grab was internationally condemned.
St Petersburg is President Putin's home city, where he first rose to prominence.
Interior Ministry sources quoted by Russia's RIA news agency said a bomb was hidden in a statue presented to Tatarsky in a box as a gift.
The cafe targeted on Sunday was previously owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia's notorious Wagner mercenary group, the St Petersburg news site Fontanka reports.