Woman arrested after Putin propagandist blown up in cafe explosion as Russia blames Ukraine and Navalny
3 April 2023, 09:52 | Updated: 3 April 2023, 10:56
Russia has blamed Ukraine and Alexei Navalny's organisation for an attack on a pro-Russia propagandist killed by a bomb in St Petersburg, after an alleged member of the dissident's group was arrested in connection with the killing.
Daria Trepova, 26, has been named by Russia's investigative committee as a suspect in the killing of Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, who died on Sunday in St Petersburg in a bomb blast that left 30 other people injured.
Trepova is in hospital recovering from the blast herself, according to Russian media. She is a member of Mr Navalny's group, Russia's anti-terrorist committee said.
Tatarsky was given the bomb in a statuette by a woman, not long before the blast at a political event being held at the Street Food Bar No 1 cafe in St Petersburg.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Russian investigators said that Ukrainian spies were responsible for the attack, working with Mr Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, said: "The Kyiv regime supports terrorist actions and possibly is behind the killing of Vladlen Tatarsky, along with many other people since 2014.
"That's exactly why we are carrying out the special operation [the Russian term for the invasion of Ukraine]."
Video showing the moment Daria Teprova, planting the bomb in a cafe in St Petersburg which killed over a dozen civilians including Vladen Tatarsky. She’s currently in custody and being questioned over terrorism charges pic.twitter.com/H18XSsWnAH
— LogKa (@LogKa11) April 2, 2023
Police are also reportedly hunting for the husband of Ms Trepova, but the political group he belongs to said he has nothing to do with it.
The Libertarian Party also condemned
Around 100 people were at the event. Thirty were hurt in the blast with four in critical condition.
Video footage posted on Russian messaging app channels showed the aftermath of the explosion with tables and chairs broken and spattered with blood and shards of glass and debris strewn across the floor.
Tatarsky was killed just minutes after being handed the statue - a gold-coloured effigy of himself.
‼️In St. Petersburg, propagandist and military correspondent Tatarsky died after an explosion in Prigozhin’s cafe.
— Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 (@maria_drutska) April 2, 2023
According to russian media:
• an explosion in a cafe Street bar, where, previously, there was a “creative evening” of Tatarsky;
• a girl carried the bomb to a… pic.twitter.com/yixwlqu0SX
A murder investigation has been opened but analysts suspect it was an attack carried out by the Ukrainian secret service.
Russian media said investigators are looking at the bust as the possible source of the blast but have not ruled out the possibility that an explosive device was planted in the cafe.
Tatarsky was an outspoken Kremlin supporter and blogger.
Russian authorities work on site in aftermath of St Petersburg blast
Russia's Tass news agency said Tatarsky, using various pseudonyms, had been filing text and video reports from Ukraine as well as from the Kremlin.
CCTV captured the moment the 200g explosive device detonated at the "Street Bar" café, with a fireball lighting up the venue - and a shockwave sending shards of glass blasting into the street.
Tatarsky was one of Russia's foremost military bloggers with over 560,000 followers on Telegram.
Tatarsky's death appears to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine.
Russia's Federal Security Service accused Ukraine's secret services last August of killing Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist, in a car bomb attack near Moscow. Ukraine denied any involvement.
