Russian authorities blame Ukrainian intelligence and Team Navalny for murder of pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said Monday that the explosion that killed pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on Sunday was planned by the Ukrainian authorities.
“We’ve established that the terrorist attack carried out against well-known journalist Vladlen Tatarsky on April 2 in St. Petersburg was planned by Ukrainian intelligence services with the involvement of agents who collaborate with Alexey Navalny’s so-called Anti-Corruption Foundation, of which arrested [suspect Daria] Trepova is an active supporter,” the agency said in a statement.
In a response to the allegations, Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) head Ivan Zhdanov suggested Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) was likely responsible for the attack:
Everything that’s happening suggests that in reality, FSB agents themselves eliminated this propagandist. They’ve been doing this since 2014: poisoning and killing each other left and right, sharing the market. It’s just that many of the cases haven’t been public. And right now, it’s very convenient for them to attribute this to the FBK. Not only do they need an external enemy in the form of Ukraine, they also need a domestic one in the form of Navalny’s team.
Vladlen Tatarsky was killed on April 2 by an explosion inside a cafe in St. Petersburg. The blast injured at least 32 people.