Russian ‘assassinated’ in café bombing for ‘telling the truth’ about Ukraine war

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One of Vladimir Putin's close pals has claimed that pro-war Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed as he wrote the truth.

Tatarsky, 40 – whose real name was Maxim Fomin – was killed in the bombing of a St Petersburg café yesterday (April 2).

At least 32 others were wounded, of which 10 are in serious condition, after the explosion, which had a power of 200 grams of TNT.

READ MORE: Pro-Putin blogger blown up after receiving unusual gift as woman arrested for murder

Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko claimed he was killed because he “wrote the truth”.

Writing on her Telegram channel, Ukrainian-born Matviyenko, said that Tatarsky "became a target of our enemies" due to his military reporting.

At times, Tatarsky was critical of Putin’s lack of success in Ukraine to his 560,000 Telegram followers.

However, the senior Moscow official was among those who paid tribute to the killed ideologue, as reported by Newsweek.

The translated post reads: "I read his posts, Vladlen wrote the truth, wrote simply, brightly. That's why he became a target for our enemies, who are afraid of the strength of our spirit, our people's will.

"And Vladlen not only fought in the militia, and gathered aid for our soldiers, but, most importantly, he formed the people's understanding of the special military operation. And, I'm sure, he did a lot for our future victory”.

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It is understood that Tatarsky was meeting with members of the public in a pre-arranged event by the “Cyber Front Z”, a pro-war movement.

During the meet, a woman handed him a figurine, which contained the explosive that killed him.

Russia's Investigative Committee for St. Petersburg has opened a murder investigation and a 26-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

St Petersburg resident Daria Trepova is been detained.

The assassination is the second high-profile bomb attack against pro-Kremlin figures within Russia since February 24, 2022.

In August last year, Darya Dugina—the daughter of influential ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin—was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow's suburbs that the Kremlin blamed on Kyiv.

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• Vladimir Putin
• Military
• Russia
• Russia Ukraine war
• Ukraine
• Crime

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