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A woman suspected of assassinating pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky has been identified by Russian authorities as a 26-year-old St. Petersburg resident.
Russia's investigative committee said Daria Trepova had been arrested after authorities questioned her mother and sister and searched her residence, according to Russian state media.
Prominent pro-Kremlin military blogger Tartarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed in an explosion at a café in St. Petersburg at around 6 p.m. local time on Sunday.
A murder investigation has been opened, and Russian law enforcement officials told state media that Fomin was the intended target of the "makeshift" explosive device. Around 200 grams of TNT detonated close to the stage where Fomin was speaking, Russian state media reported.
The café where the explosion took place is owned by Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a statement posted to Telegram, Prigozhin said he had allowed Russian nationalist group Cyber Front Z to use the space, which was advertised on the organization's Telegram channel. Around 100 people attended the event, featuring Fomin as the leader of the gathering's political discussion.
Russian outlet REN TV published footage filmed just before the blast, saying the "explosive device was planted in advance" at the Street Food Bar #1 Café. Fomin was handed a statue by a woman, which some reports have said contained explosive material. Newsweek has been unable to independently verify this claim.
Video published in Russian media also appears to show the moment the suspect entered the café.
Russian media reported that a woman had identified herself as "Nastya" before handing Fomin the statuette. Witnesses reported that the woman said the security team for the event had asked her whether a bomb was concealed in the statue.
Footage has also emerged of Fomin praising the "golden" statue, calling it a "handsome guy." The explosion followed between three and five minutes later, one eyewitness said.
Local media reports suggested that Trepova had links to the Libertarian Party of Russia, an organization to which her husband belongs, which it denied.
"Daria Trepova was never a member of our political party. Furthermore, we have no information suggesting that she has ever supported the Libertarian Party," the party said in a statement on Telegram, cited by CNN.
Russian media reported Trepova has previously been arrested for protesting against the war in Ukraine.
Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti reported that 32 people had been injured as of Monday morning, with eight people still being treated in hospital.
Fomin was one of the most "significant" voices in the influential Russian "milblogger" community, with a "deep connection" to the Kremlin, Russian nationalists, Russian separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine and the Wagner mercenary group, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said Sunday.
Amassing more than 500,000 Telegram followers, Fomin was a vocal supporter of Moscow's war in Ukraine, as well as a critic of the Russian military and defense ministry.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova appeared to blame Ukraine for the explosion, saying: "Russian journalists are constantly experiencing threats of reprisals from the Kyiv regime and its inspirers, which are increasingly being implemented."
Fomin's "service to the Fatherland aroused hatred among the Kyiv regime," she added in a statement.
Prigozhin said he "would not blame the Kyiv regime for these actions," suggesting a "group of radicals that is hardly related to the government" could be responsible.
Writing on Twitter, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said "spiders are eating each other in a jar," calling "domestic terrorism" in Russia an "instrument of internal political fight."
Describing Fomin as a "Wagner-affiliated convict," the ISW said Fomin "does not appear to have been a target worthy of special attention from Kyiv."
Fomin's assassination may be part of a "larger pattern of escalating Russian internal conflicts" involving the Wagner Group and Prigozhin, the think tank said.
"Fomin's assassination may have been intended as a warning to Prigozhin," the ISW wrote.
Update 4/3/23, 6:18 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further details, including information about suspect Daria Trepova.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more