Tatarsky was killed on Sunday after a woman handed him a statuette that later exploded in a cafe, injuring more than 40 people.
Hundreds gathered for the funeral of high-profile Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in Moscow after he was killed in a bomb attack in St Petersburg.
Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed on Sunday after a woman handed him a bust that later exploded in a cafe, injuring more than 40 people.
Russian authorities say the attack was orchestrated by Ukraine with the help of supporters of imprisoned critic Alexey Navalny. Kiev blames Russia’s internal power struggle.
Mourners, some with flowers, gathered at the prestigious Troyekurovskoye cemetery in western Moscow with heightened police presence.
Some supporters wore the letters Z and V – symbols of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine – on their clothes. Priests in white robes led a funeral service at the cemetery with burning candles.
Tatarsky’s awards were placed on velvet cushions near his coffin.
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jazeera, who covered the funeral in the capital, said the event took place under heavy security.
“It took us quite some time to get to the cemetery grounds and we are still not allowed to enter due to security concerns,” she said.
“Metal detectors have been installed at the entrance and we have gone through a very thorough security check.”
Founder of Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin at the funeral (File: Yulia Morozova/Reuters)
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the mercenary Wagner Group was also present at the funeral, Jabbari reported.
“He put some sort of axe, we believe, on top of the coffin when he paid his respects. He was the first to do so before the crowd was allowed in.”
The cafe where Tatarsky was killed belonged to Prigozhin.
In a statement released by his spokesmen, Prigozhin — whose troops are leading the assault on cities in eastern Ukraine — praised the blogger for helping him “destroy the enemy.”
“He is a soldier who will stay with us, whose voice will always live and speak only the truth,” said Prigozhin.
Russian investigators have charged Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old St Petersburg resident, with “terrorist offences” over the bombing.
While Trepova was arrested in St Petersburg, her case was sent to Moscow, home to the country’s top investigative agencies – a clear reflection of its high priority.
‘We will beat everyone’
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin bestowed the highest order of valor on Tatarsky, who was a strong supporter of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
He publicly demanded that Russia continue the war even more aggressively and he had more than 500,000 followers on the Telegram messaging app.
Tatarsky, who joined separatists in eastern Ukraine after a Moscow-backed uprising broke out there in 2014, fought on the front lines for years before turning to blogging.
At a Kremlin ceremony last September announcing the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, Tatarsky recorded himself saying, “We will beat everyone. We will kill everyone. We will rob anyone if necessary. Just the way we like it.”
Putin on Wednesday accused Western security services of helping Kiev organize “terror attacks” in Russia.
The attack on Tatarsky came after Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent ultra-nationalist intellectual, was killed in a car bombing outside Moscow last year, which Russia also blamed on Ukraine.
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