Russia accuses Ukraine of planning the attack on blogger Vladlen Tatarski in Saint Petersburg

The Kremlin calls what happened a "terrorist act" and highlights the "vigorous steps" to arrest the suspects

The Russian authorities have accused the special services of Ukraine on Monday of planning the attack carried out on Sunday in a cafeteria in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, which resulted in the death of the blogger Vladlen Tatarski and more than 30 injured.

The National Anti-Terrorist Committee has indicated in a statement published on its website that "it has been determined that the terrorist act committed on April 2 in Saint Petersburg against the well-known journalist Vladlen Tatarski was planned by the special services of Ukraine."

Likewise, it has pointed to the "participation" in the plan of "people who collaborate with the so-called Navalni Anti-Corruption Fund", created in 2011 by the opponent Alexei Navalni. In this sense, he has stressed that the suspect arrested, Daria Trepova, is "a person who actively supports him."

Trepova was arrested this Monday by the Russian security forces for her alleged responsibility in the murder of the blogger, whose real name is Maxim Fomin. The man, born in the Ukrainian region of Donbas (east), was participating in a "creative event" in the cafeteria when he was given a figure that concealed the explosive, according to sources quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.

For his part, the Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, has called what happened a "terrorist act" and has highlighted the "vigorous steps to arrest the suspects." "Let's be patient in this case and wait for the next communications from the special services," he said.

However, he stressed that "there is evidence, according to the statement of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, that the Ukrainian special services could be involved in planning this terrorist attack", as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.

"We wish a speedy recovery to those who have suffered as a result of this terrorist attack and, of course, we express our condolences to the families and friends of Fomin, who died as a result of this terrorist attack," he added.

By contrast, the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, has blamed the attack on "radicals". "I would not blame the Kiev regime for these actions," he said, after referring to the death of Daria Dugina, daughter of ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, in a bomb attack in August 2022. "I think it is a group of radicals and I see it as unlikely that they have a relationship with the (Ukrainian) government," he said.

Tatarski was one of the bloggers with contacts in the Russian forces who routinely criticize military commanders, although they rarely target Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin himself has recognized the importance of these propagandists to the point that the Kremlin has created a body to coordinate the government with these content creators.