Several hundred people attended the funeral of the well-known military blogger Maxim Fomin in Moscow on Saturday. As local AFP journalists noted, numerous attendees at the funeral at the Troyekurovskoe cemetery in the west of the capital wore clothing with the letter “Z” or “V”, which have become symbols of support for the military offensive in Ukraine. Among the mourners was the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The Wagner group fought in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian troops in violation of international law, and there, as in other conflicts, was marked by particular atrocities.
Fomin, who wrote under the name Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed last Sunday in a bomb attack at a café in St. Petersburg. The cafe belongs to Prigozhin. The 61-year-old, who was imprisoned for numerous serious crimes in the 1980s, is one of Russia’s most successful entrepreneurs and has good contacts with dictator Vladimir Putin.
Numerous police officers were deployed to secure the funeral service and visitors to the cemetery were closely monitored. Wagner boss Prigozhin was quoted by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti: “Vladlen Tatarsky will stay with us, his voice will continue to be heard.”
As one of Russia’s most popular pro-government military bloggers, Fomin had more than 500,000 subscribers to the Telegram online service. Born in Donbass in eastern Ukraine, Fomin already joined pro-Russian separatists in 2014.
The influence of military bloggers such as Fomin has increased in Russia since the start of the offensive in Ukraine in February 2022. The bloggers report, among others, on the side of the army from Ukraine and sometimes also sharply criticize Russia’s military strategy.
After the deadly attack on Fomin in St. Petersburg, which left 30 other people injured, Russian authorities arrested a 26-year-old woman who allegedly presented the blogger with a statue containing an explosive device. So far, however, the woman has denied knowing anything about the explosives and is not providing any information about possible backers.
Moscow has accused Ukraine and “agents” of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny of being involved in the attack. Pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters had spoken of an action by a Russian resistance group, but without providing any evidence. Kiev, on the other hand, described the attack as an internal reckoning among supporters of the Ukrainian offensive.
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Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
