UPDATED: Suspect in St Petersburg explosion detained by Russian authorities
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Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass reports that the suspect in the explosion that killed military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky has been detained by the authorities. She has been named as Daria Trepova.
Tass quotes a statement from employees of the investigative committee which says: “On suspicion of involvement in the explosion in a cafe in St Petersburg, employees of the Russian investigative committee, together with operational services, detained Daria Trepova.”
Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram and was one of the country’s most influential military bloggers. More than 30 people were wounded in the blast on Sunday.
A still image taken from a handout video provided by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs shows Darya Trepova, who has been detained on suspicion of involvement in an explosion at a cafe in St Petersburg, in St.Petersburg, Russia, 03 March 2023. According to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Darya Trepova was detained on suspicion of involvement in the explosion in a cafe in St. Petersburg. Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, aka Maxim Fomin, died and at least 15 people were injured in a bomb blast on 02 April. EPA-EFE/RUSSIAN INTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE
Russia’s interior ministry on Monday placed a woman Russian media have described as a suspect in the killing of war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on its wanted list, the Interfax news agency reported.
Darya Trepova was identified by some Russian media as a suspect online, though the interior ministry made no reference to the Tatarsky killing on its site which showed she had been put on its wanted list.
Fomin, who had 560,000 followers on the messaging app Telegram, was one of the most prominent of Russia’s war bloggers – a mixed group of war veterans and correspondents who have championed Russia’s campaign in Ukraine, while also offering stinging criticism of the Russian military leadership.
‼️ Preliminarily, the bomb was in the "award" given to Tatarsky
A video shows Tatarsky being given a statuette.
The power of the explosive device in St. Petersburg was more than 200 grams of TNT, police said. The number of injured in the explosion has risen to 15. pic.twitter.com/RHtsHbe0cC
The number of people wounded in the bomb blast that killed Tatarsky on Sunday has risen to 32 from 25 reported earlier, Russia’s RIA sate news agency reported.
Citing the ministry of health, RIA reported on Monday that 10 of the people were in a serious condition.
Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a St Petersburg cafe in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine.
It was not immediately known who was behind the killing. Russia’s state Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder investigation.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack.
Tatarsky was a guest speaker at an event hosted by the cafe when the bomb went off.
There are conflicting reports in Russian media about the explosive device. According to official sources quoted by Russian state media, Tatarsky was presented with a statue in a box as a gift, which had a bomb hidden inside.
Video circulating on Telegram after the blast showed him being handed a statue and making jokes about it.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak blamed the blast on a Russian “internal political fight”, tweeting: “Spiders are eating each other in a jar.”
A view of the scene of an explosion at the ‘Street bar’ cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, . According to Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, as a result of the explosion, blogger Vladlen Tatarsky died. EPA-EFE/ANATOLY MALTSEV
