Russia accuses Ukraine's secret services and Navalny's foundation of murdering Vladlen Tatarsky
Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee has accused the Ukrainian secret services and supporters of Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation of murdering collaborator and propagandist Maxim Fomin, who called himself a "war correspondent" and went by the name Vladlen Tatarsky.
Source: Kremlin-aligned news outlet RIA Novosti
Details: The National Anti-Terrorist Committee of the Russian Federation has stated that the "act of terrorism" committed against Vladlen Tatarsky on 2 April in St Petersburg was planned by the Ukrainian secret services with the involvement of agents associated with Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.
According to the committee, the detainee, Darya Trepova, is an active supporter of the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has said that investigators are establishing Darya Trepova's motives.
Meanwhile, Darya Trepova's husband has stated that he has no connection with the explosion in St Petersburg. This was reported by the Libertarian Party of Russia, to which he belongs.
Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Tatarsky's murder was an "act of terrorism" and the "Kyiv regime" could be behind it.
He said Vladimir Putin had been immediately informed of Tatarsky's murder, and that the investigation is taking "quite vigorous steps to detain the suspects".
Quote from Peskov: "There is evidence that the Ukrainian secret services may have been involved in the planning of this terrorist attack.
Russia is facing a Kyiv regime that supports terrorist activities. This is the regime that was behind the murder of Darya Dugina [a reporter working for Kremlin-aligned news outlet RT and the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, "Putin's ideologue" – ed.], the regime that is quite possibly behind the murder of [Maxim] Fomin. It is a regime that has been behind the murder of people for many years, since 2014."
Background:
- On 2 April, an explosion occurred in a cafe in the centre of St Petersburg that had previously belonged to Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner Group Private Military Company, killing "war correspondent" (military blogger) Vladlen Tatarsky and injuring 30 other people.
- Russian secret forces have supposedly detained Darya Trepova, a resident of St Petersburg, on suspicion of murdering propagandist Vladlen Tatarsky. However, media outlets are reporting that she is still being searched for.
- Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War have suggested that forces inside Russia may have been involved in Tatarsky’s murder, and it could have been a "warning" meant for Prigozhin.
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