A prominent Russian military blogger was killed Sunday and 25 others injured in an explosion at a cafe in Russia's second-largest city of Saint Petersburg, the interior ministry said, reports AFP.
"One person was killed in the incident. He was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky," the ministry said on Telegram.
Investigators later said they had confirmed "an unidentified explosive device exploded in a cafe in central St Petersburg", and had opened a murder inquiry.
The health ministry said that a total of 25 people were injured in the blast, 24 of whom were taken to hospital.
Six of the injured were said to be in serious condition.
The explosion occurred at "Street Food Bar No. 1", located along the Neva river not far from the historic city centre, with the interior ministry saying police had been called to the scene at 6:13 pm (1513 GMT).
Officers cordoned off the street outside the building with around 20 police cars, alongside six ambulances as well as fire trucks, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
The TASS news agency quoted a law enforcement source as saying the blast was "caused by an improvised explosive device hidden inside a statue given to Tatarsky as a gift".
The Ria Novosti agency, quoting a source close to the inquiry, said "a girl" had supposedly dropped off a package with a "figurine" inside intended for the blogger.
"She gave it to him... and all of a sudden there was an explosion," Alissa Smotrova, a woman who was at the cafe, told AFP.
"There was blood and pieces of glass..."
Another source told Ria Novosti that Tatarsky "knew" the suspected deliverer of the package, and that they had crossed paths at other "events", without giving further details.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
