Russia’s Investigative Committee reported on Monday that a woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing a well-known military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on April 2. The assassin Darya Trepova was earlier placed on Russia’s wanted list. The authorities report that the explosion injured over 30 persons, 10 still in critical condition.
Earlier the Russian Interior Ministry had identified the suspect as Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old native of St. Petersburg who had previously been detained for participating in anti-war demonstrations. Russian media has stated that Darya Trepova was associated with pro-Ukraine groups and has been linked to Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Tatarsky whose real name was Maksim Fomin was hosting a fan gathering at a cafe in the heart of St. Petersburg on Sunday night when a bomb exploded, killing him and injuring over 30 others. According to witnesses, Tatarsky received a figurine from a young woman just before the explosion. According to a witness named Alisa Smotrova, the woman informed Mr Tatarsky that she had created a figurine of him but that the guards had requested her to leave it at the entrance because they thought it might be a bomb. They laughed and joked before she went to the door, picked up the bust and handed it to Mr Tatarsky.
Meanwhile, a video of the blast has also surfaced.
Video from the scene of St Petersburg explosion. It took place during an event featuring pro-Russian military blogger from Donbas Maksim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky). He is dead, according to Dva Mayora TG channel. Over a dozen people injured. pic.twitter.com/GJE2VbPL8F
— Leonid ХВ Ragozin (@leonidragozin) April 2, 2023
According to several Russian media reports, the improvised explosive device was camouflaged as a statuette given to Tatarsky during the event.
The perpetrators of a bombing at a St. Petersburg cafe that killed military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky were attempting to sow panic among the population but they will not succeed, the city’s governor, Alexander Beglov, said:https://t.co/NaPKtmbkL3 pic.twitter.com/IGo1WsB9z2
— TASS (@tassagency_en) April 3, 2023
According to Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, Mr Tatarsky’s activities “had earned him the enmity of the Kyiv administration,” and he and other Russian military bloggers have long faced threats from Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian owner of the Wagner Group military contractor leading Moscow’s attack in eastern Ukraine, claimed to run the cafe and had granted permission for a patriotic group to hold meetings there.
