Russia blames Ukraine for bomb that killed military blogger

Russian authorities blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies on April 3 for orchestrating a bombing at a St. Petersburg cafe that killed a Russian military blogger who fervently supported Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian authorities blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies on April 3 for orchestrating a bombing at a St. Petersburg cafe that killed a Russian military blogger who fervently supported Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and arrested a suspect accused of involvement in the attack.

Ukrainian authorities did not directly respond to the accusation, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he doesn't think about events in Russia and a senior official earlier described the bombing as part of Russia's internal turmoil.

Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, was killed on Sunday as he was leading a discussion at a cafe on the banks of the Neva River in the historic heart of Russia's second-largest city, officials said. Tatarsky, who had filed regular reports from the front lines in Ukraine, was the pen name for Maxim Fomin. He had accumulated more than 5,60,000 followers on his Telegram messaging app channel.

Over 30 people were wounded, and 10 of them remain in grave condition from the blast, according to the authorities.

Investigators have said they believe that the bomb was hidden in a bust of the blogger that was given to him just before the explosion. A video showed Tatarsky making jokes about the bust and putting it on the table next to him.

Russian authorities on Monday announced the arrest of Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old St. Petersburg resident who has been seen on video presenting Tatarsky with the bust. Last year, Ms. Trepova was detained by police for taking part in anti-war rallies.

The Interior Ministry released a brief video showing Ms. Trepova telling a police officer that she brought the statuette that exploded to the cafe. When asked who gave it to her, she said she would explain it later.