Vladlen Tatarsky was one of the most prominent military commentators who provided commentary on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
A 26-year-old woman was arrested for the St. Petersburg café explosion that killed a pro-war military blogger.
According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, Daria Trepova has been detained following the murder of Vladlen Tatarsky in an explosion that occurred while he was giving a lecture on Sunday.
Dmitry Rylov, Trepova’s husband, told the Russian news site SVTV News that while his wife opposed the conflict in Ukraine, “she would never kill” and he believes she was falsely accused.
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has released a video that purports to show Daria Trepova confessing.
Unknown are the circumstances under which the filming took place.
Approximately thirty persons were injured in the explosion, with ten of them reportedly in critical condition, according to authorities.
Tatarsky, whose actual name was Maxim Fomin, and was 40 years old, had more than 560,000 Telegram followers.
He was a leading military blogger who covered Russia’s assault of Ukraine.
According to Russian news reports, the explosive was concealed in a bust of the blogger that the suspect had gifted to him just before the explosion.
The incident was deemed a terrorist attack by anti-terror officials in Russia, who claim it was organized by Ukrainian special services and involved “collaborators” from the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is currently serving a prison sentence in Russia for alleged fraud and disobedience of court, founded the non-profit organization that investigated corruption among high-ranking Russian officials.
The National Anti-Terrorist Committee calls Trepova a “active supporter” of the banned “foreign agent” group.
She would never murder.
Trepova’s husband, Dmitry Rylov, stated that while his wife opposed the Ukrainian conflict, “she would never kill.”
“I believe that my wife was set up. “I’m fairly certain she would not have been able to accomplish that on her own,” he said.
Rylov, a member of the extremist opposition group Libertarian Party of Russia (LPR), stated, “Along with Daria, we do not support the war in Ukraine, but such actions are unacceptable.”
If she had known, I am certain she would never have consented to this.
Tatarsky was killed at a café on the Neva River in historic St. Petersburg.
In videotaped remarks, a witness said Nastya asked Tatarsky questions at the event.
Alisa Smotrova, a witness, quoted Nastya as saying she had sculpted a bust of the blogger, but guards asked her to leave it at the entrance out of concern that it was a bomb.
Nastya and Tatarsky chuckled and joked together. She then walked to the door, retrieved the bust, and gave it to Tatarsky.
According to reports, he placed the statuette on a nearby table, and an explosion ensued. Ms. Smotrova described individuals fleeing in terror, some of whom were injured by the fractured glass and covered in blood.
The Wagner Group’s creator, Yevgeny Prigozhin, owned the cafe, according to a St. Petersburg website.
A senior Russian official attributed the assault to Ukraine without providing evidence. Kyiv has refuted the claim.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a counsel to the Ukrainian president, attributed the explosion to Russian domestic terrorism.
“The spiders in the jar are eating each other,” he added.
It is unlikely that the Ukraine military was responsible for the attack.
It would be the second Ukrainian conflict-related murder in Russia if Tatarsky was targeted.
Darya Dugina, the daughter of a close ally of Vladimir Putin, was murdered in August 2017 when a suspected explosive device detonated on the Toyota Land Cruiser she was traveling in.
Tatarsky was among the hundreds who attended an extravagant ceremony at the Kremlin in September to announce the annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions.
“We will defeat everyone, murder everyone, and plunder everyone we must. On that particular occasion, he was heard saying in a video recording that everything would be to our liking.
As St. Petersburg was not a military target, military analyst Sean Bell told that it is “extremely unlikely” that the Ukrainian military was behind the attack.
Russian bloggers who advocate for war have paid tribute to Tatarsky.
“He was always able to escape the most dangerous areas of the special military operation alive. But the conflict found him in a cafe in St. Petersburg,” said conflict Gonzo blogger Semyon Pegov.
Following the bombing, Russian officials declared plans to increase security at the upcoming Victory Day celebrations in May. Victory Day is one of the most significant events on the Russian calendar.
