Russian police on Monday arrested a woman suspected of delivering a bomb to a cafe in connection with an explosion at a cafe. The blast killed a well-known military blogger who supported Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russian officials said Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in the incident while leading a discussion at a cafe on the banks of the Neva River in St. Petersburg.
According to officials, around 30 people were injured in the blast. According to Russian media reports, the bomb was hidden inside the statue of Tatarsky. The statue was presented to the military blogger by a woman just before the explosion. Russia’s top criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee of Russia, has reported that Daria Tryapova has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Tatarsky’s murder.
Twenty-six-year-old Tryapova is from St. Petersburg and was previously arrested for taking part in an anti-war rally. A Russian patriot group, which organized the event, said it had made security arrangements but that the arrangements proved “inadequate”.
In a video, witness Alisa Smotrova says that the woman, who identified herself as Nastya, asked Tatsky questions during the discussion and said that she had brought the statue to him, but that the security guard had put it at the door, because it could be stolen. Tha bomb remained.
At this both Nastasya and Tatsky laughed. Then the woman went to the door and brought the idol and gave it to Tatasky. He places the idol on a nearby table, causing it to explode. Russian media said investigators believed the statue was the cause of the explosion, but did not rule out the possibility that a bomb had been planted in the cafe prior to the incident. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.