Blast in St. Petersburg kills Russian military blogger: Reports

An explosion in St. Petersburg killed Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on Sunday, according to media reports.

The Russian Interior Ministry confirmed the incident, the BBC reported. It is not clear who was responsible for the blast.

At least 16 people were injured in the attack at the Street Bar Cafe, according to the reports.

Videos posted on social media show an explosion and injured people on the street.

Reuters reported that a St. Petersburg website said that the cafe where the explosion occurred had at one time belonged to Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary operation that is fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

If Tatarsky was deliberately targeted, it would be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure associated with the war in Ukraine. Russia blamed Ukraine for the killing of Darya Dugina — daughter of Alexander Dugin, a Russian ideologue and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — in an attack near Moscow last summer. Kyiv denied involvement.