Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Two Russian comedians living in Europe have received a deluge of threats after parodying the violent death of a pro-war military blogger earlier this week.
At a concert in Berlin this week, Alexander Dolgopolov and Garik Oganisyan re-enacted the moments leading up to the bomb blast that killed Vladlen Tatarsky at a St. Petersburg cafe on Sunday, with Dolgopolov approaching Oganisyan onstage to present him with a bronze statue. Oganisyan then thanked him and set the statue down beside him before grinning at the audience, sparking applause and uproarious laughter.
Evidently, those in the audience were well aware that it was precisely when Tatarsky set his gifted statue down that a bomb detonated, killing him instantly at a “patriotic” event. The pro-war hardliner has been portrayed by the Kremlin as a martyr for the war against Ukraine, with Vladimir Putin posthumously awarding him the Order of Courage and billboards going up in some cities to pay tribute to him.