On April 8, a farewell ceremony and funeral took place in Moscow for blogger and war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin. He had died earlier on April 2 during a terrorist attack in St. Petersburg.
The farewell ceremony began at noon at the Troekurovsky cemetery. Security ahead of the event was tightened by law enforcement, with visitors undergoing thorough checks through metal detectors.
Among the first to honor Tatarsky was Evgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner PMC. At the ceremony he stated that Tatarsky’s voice would continue to be heard despite his death and emphasized that he always strives to tell the truth to the people, even when the news is painful.
Leonid Slutsky, head of the LDPR party, attended and remarked that Tatarsky led a remarkable life from which thousands of Russian youth could learn. Slutsky also suggested lifting the moratorium on the death penalty for those responsible for terrorist acts. Former DPR Defense Minister Daniil Bezsonov and musician Akim Apachev were also present to say goodbye.
Funeral wreaths were sent by Dmitry Kiselyov, chief executive of the Russia Today media group, and Margarita Simonyan, RT editor-in-chief.
Tatarsky was buried in a closed coffin. In the farewell hall, alongside wreaths and flowers, lay a nominal sledgehammer inscribed with “Your work lives” from Wagner mercenaries, a violin case, and posthumous medals.
Additionally, Akim Apachev’s song “They Gone” was performed in the hall beside the coffin. The piece is a reworking of a poem by Timur Mutsuraev and, in Russia, its text is banned as extremist. Apachev explained that he used forbidden verses in the choir “They Left” to honor fallen comrades who had been at the Donbass front since 2014.
Media estimates placed the number of mourners above a thousand, with a line of attendees stretching a kilometer. At the cemetery entrance, attendees were asked to discard lighters and leave foreign objects outside the premises.
Armed state guards accompanied Tatarsky’s relatives. Clergy from the Moscow diocese and church leaders, including representations from the Bishop of Zelenogradsky and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’, attended the service.
The ceremony lasted about two hours. Afterward, the coffin was moved from the hall along a living corridor to the hearse. A portrait of the journalist was carried at the front of the funeral procession.
The burial included military honors: a military band, a guard of honor, gun salutes, and the Russian national anthem performed at the graveside as the procession continued, with the army marching in tribute.
On April 2, a creative meeting with Tatarsky took place at the Patriot bar on Universitetskaya Embankment in St. Petersburg, a well-known venue for patriotic and military discussions. An explosion occurred around 6 p.m. Early reports indicated a bomb inside a statuette presented to Tatarsky by Daria Trepova. She was arrested and charged in connection with the incident.
As a result of the attack, Tatarsky died, and about 40 people were injured. Roughly a hundred attendees were present, including some minors. Some victims remained hospitalized, with conditions ranging from serious to moderate. Investigators assessed the bomb’s strength at roughly 200–500 grams of TNT.
Tatarsky, aged 40, was born in Makeevka near Donetsk to a miner’s family. He briefly worked in mining, later entered business, and at one point faced a bank robbery charge. He reportedly escaped from prison in 2014 and joined the DPR militia, later becoming part of the People’s Militia and serving in reconnaissance.
Since 2019, Tatarsky had maintained a Telegram blog with hundreds of thousands of followers, sharing news from the LPR and DPR and commenting on Donbass events. After the start of the special operation, he joined the Vostok battalion and reported from the front, according to tracing in public accounts .