Netanyahu’s office claims security tensions delaying Gallant firing

Russia blames Ukraine for deadly hit on pro-war blogger after blast

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

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

Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, was killed 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 560,000 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 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.

Vladlen Tatarsky is presented with a statuette, in the minutes that followed it exploded killing him wounding 30 others 10 this morning are in critical condition. The women who brought the statuette is in costudy. She is not speaking. Daria Trepova When asked by the operative who… pic.twitter.com/sIB6PIF3Rr

— Parsin ???????????????????????????????????? (@Darthprophet) April 3, 2023

Russian authorities say they arrested Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old St. Petersburg resident who has been seen on video presenting Tatarsky with the bust. Last year, Trepova was detained by police for taking part in antiwar rallies.