Cronkite school of journalism at
Arizona state university.
Amna: It's the highest profile
killing of a supporter of
Russia's war in Ukraine. This
weekend a pro-war blogger died
in an explosion at a cafe in St.
Petersburg. Russian authorities
blamed Ukraine and have arrested
an anti-war activist, but as
Nick schifrin reports, the
cafe's owner, a well known Putin
ally. Says the plot is thicker.
>> In front of his own photo,
vladern tatarsky accepted his
Trojan horse - a bust of
himself.
Moments after this was filmed,
the bust exploded, and destroyed
the cafe
leaving his dead body, and a
mangled mess.
Tatarsky was a well known
blogger and advocate for
Russia's war in Ukraine.
He was actually Ukrainian born,
a furniture maker turned
convicted bank robber turned
ultranationalist influencer
who's shown off the Kremlin to
his 560,000 followers.
>> We will defeat everyone, we
will kill everyone, we will rob
everyone we need, everything
will be as we like.
>> Russia blamed this woman -
anti-war activist darya trepova,
who brought the bust to the
cafe, in video posted by a
Russian news outlet.
Russian authorities accused her
of acting on behalf of Ukrainian
intelligence.
But the cafe's owner, begs to
differ. Yevegeny prigozhin was
once known as Putin's chef, who
owned a catering service, that
catered to the Kremlin.
But he's emerged from the
shadows to help fund and fuel
the war, as the chief financier
of the Wagner paramilitary
group.
He personally recruited tens of
thousands of soldiers, many from
Russian prisons, and sent them
into hell.
Bakhmut once had a population of
75,000.
Today, Russia destroyed it, and
called it victory.
Wagner has lead the fighting --
and dying.
Prigozhin posted this photo. The
us says more than 30-thousand
Wagner soldiers have been
wounded or killed.
Last night prigozhin posted this
video and claimed Wagner seized
bakhmut's center. The flag, says
to the memory of vladern
tatarsky.
Prigozhin, like tatarsky, is a
pardoned former convict who
became a prominent
ultranationalist.
And prigozhin had given his cafe
to tatarsky's group. But today
prigozhin posted an audio
message, saying the explosion,
wasn't caused by Ukraine's
government.
>> I would not blame the Kyiv
regime for these actions. I
think there is a group of
radicals who hardly have any
connections to the government.
>> Some Russian government
officials claimed the woman
arrested in tatarsky's death
worked with Russian opposition
leader aleksei navalny's
organization; he is currently in
Russian prison. Neither navalny
nor his group have ever had any
connection to violence in
Russia.
To explore the implications of
the bombing, we turn to Candace
rondeaux, a senior director at
new America, a Washington DC
based think tank.
She's written extensively about
the Wagner group, and it's
leader yevgeny prigozhin.
Welcome to the newshour.
Think you very much.
Tell us more about who this was
and why his death is
significant.
Guest: He was probably one of
the most prolific pro-Russian
military bloggers on the social
media channels popular with
Russian speakers.
He had a huge following,
sometime around 2017, 2018, he
became popular for starting a
social media vertical called
reverse cyber metal, which is
basically a mouthpiece and
soapbox for some of the most
extreme ultranationalist element
of Russia's right.
In particular, it is a cultural
hub for the waggoner group and
Russian mercenaries and soldiers
of fortune.
>> Fast-forward to the
full-scale invasion and he's one
of the most prominent bloggers
not only advocating for the war
but pushing the military and
government for more work.
Guest: One thing to understand
about Tarski and the river side
of the metal is job number one
is to stoke passion for war.
Job number two was to make sure
that passion could be converted
into the mobilization of forces
on the sly, on the stealth.
He succeeded in doing that by
selling the wagoner group Rand,
stealth -- wagoner group band --
brand.
Masked men doing daring things
in don boss.
He did that very well by
cultivating relationships with
real-world Wagner group
fighters, doing short videos and
basically grew the brand through
that social media channel.
Also in St. Petersburg, he was
becoming a cafe influencer.
That is why the street food
number one restaurant was hit,
essentially he had given it as a
headquarters for this cultural
move of ultranationalist,
pro-war sentiment to be
mobilized not just on media
channels but in real life.
>> This wasn't only his cafe,
this was a neighborhood scene as
his turf.
How much of this is about
sending a message?
Guest: That restaurant is just
five blocks, not even, three
blocks from his high style
restaurant called the old
customs house.
It was a big mafia hang out, a
big hang out for Vladimir Putin
back in the day when he was
deputy mayor in St. Petersburg.
That whole block, that whole
little area where this bombing
occurred has been basically his
turf and headquarters for the
better part of 30 years now.
Striking there sends a message
not just to him but the people
involved in his business
enterprises that they better
stay on watch.
>> You think out how long he has
been with them but he's recently
been fighting with the defense
minister and equivalent of his
chief of staff.
He's a clues -- accuse them of
killing Wagner soldiers in
Ukraine and there's other gap
between what prigozhin is saying
and the Kremlin talking points.
Guest: It is hard to determine
how much is theater and how much
Israel, but it has been clear
over the last nine months or so,
since the battle of buck mood
began in Ukraine, he finds
himself at the front lines of a
meatgrinder.
There's been a lot of complaints
about shell hunger -- not enough
ammunition, not enough shells to
go around for the artillery
required to beat back the
Ukrainian counter offensive.
He has become increasingly
louder and louder and he has had
the backing of hundreds of
thousands of followers on
channels like the one tart
Tarski use to run.
That has given him a sense of
confidence.
He's biting the hand that feeds
them.
At the same time, he also seems
to have a political strategy.
One in which he understands the
minute the battle falls one way
or the other, his utility
politically and militarily is
vastly diminished.
So, in a way, the P caulking
that you see online, the
constant stream of invective,
all of that is part of a larger
design to insulate himself from
the potential he becomes
expendable.
But I think this message today
with the bombing is you are
expendable Mr. Prigozhin and you
should be on watch.