How the wounded reached 32 of the explosion that thundered yesterday, on Sunday, in a cafe in St. Petersburg who killed Vladlen Tatarsky, of particular interest is his journey from coal mines to military blogs with pronounced nationalist views.

Born in the Donbass, the industrial heartland of Ukraine, Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, began his working life as a miner before entering the furniture business. But when he ran into financial difficulties, he decided to rob a bank and was sentenced to prison.

Criticism of Putin

He escaped from prison after a separatist uprising in Donbas in 2014, weeks after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Tatarsky then joined separatist rebels and fought on the front lines before becoming a blogger and soon became known for his extreme statements and fiery propaganda rhetoric.

He was known for his hardline views, criticizing Russian military leaders as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin for being too soft in their approach.

One of his most controversial statements has been his support for attacks on infrastructure that he believes will result in more Ukrainian casualties, with him regularly calling Ukraine a “terrorist state”.

After annexation of four regions of Ukraine by the Kremlin last year, which is considered illegal in many countries, Tatarsky posted a video where he cursed: “It was like that. We will beat everyone, kill everyone, rob everyone we need. Everything will be done the way we want. God be with you”.

His online presence has risen to prominence as military bloggers play an increasingly important and influential role in spreading the word about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tatarsky has more than 560,000 subscribers on Telegram. He was one of the most famous military bloggers who defended Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, while often criticizing Russian military strategy and tactical decisions.

The Kremlin fears “powerful” bloggers

Far-right Russian bloggers who support the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine are embellishing the failures on the war fronts. The Guardian, in its article, presents a harsh criticism of the Russian forces from these analysts. The Kremlin’s tolerance for bloggers’ comments is striking, experts say, given a recent law that can carry up to 15 years in prison for criticizing the war.

“The war in Ukraine will continue until Russia is completely defeated,” said far-right nationalist Igor Girkin in a video message to his 430,000 Telegram followers. “We have already lost, the rest is only a matter of time,” he characteristically writes.

Girkin, a former Russian intelligence colonel who became commander of pro-Russian separatist forces in 2014, is arguably the most visible voice in an increasingly vocal and angry group of ultranationalists and pro-war bloggers who have blasted the Kremlin for failing to achieve its tactical goals as the fighting in Ukraine are already in their seventh month, the Guardian notes.

Military bloggers, who are often former veterans with frontline contacts, also provide rare insights into Russia’s real actions on the ground.

“Some sources are very dubious, but there are those like Girkin who know what they are talking about and clearly have contacts with people at the front or otherwise know about it,” Mark Galeotti said.

Pavel Luzin, an independent Russian military expert, believes that bloggers have remained “untouched” because they are letting part of Russia’s population out to vent their anger over failures in Ukraine. “The Kremlin is too scared to simply ignore the nationalist part of the population,” Luzin said, adding that some bloggers were likely acting with the tacit approval of the security services.

Galeotti also stated that “many” bloggers are “connected to or protected by the military or security forces.”

^{Source: SkyNews, The Guardian}