Russian FSB alleges Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation inspired murder of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has said that Daria Trepova, who was arrested in connection with the explosion that killed pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in St. Petersburg in early April, carried out the murder in response to “repeated [public] calls” from Anti-Corruption Foundation leaders Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov to engage in “subversive activities” in Russia, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti.

According to the FSB, Trepova organized Tatarsky’s murder with the help of a Ukrainian citizen named Yury Denisov who allegedly sent her the explosive device “camouflaged as a plaster bust of the war correspondent.” In the authorities’ account, Trepova received the device in Moscow through an intermediary using an express delivery service.

The FSB also alleged that Denisov is a member of a “Ukrainian diversionary terrorist group.” According to the agency, earlier this year, Denisov traveled from Kyiv through Latvia to the Moscow region, where he gathered information about Tatarsky’s “lifestyle and the places he frequented.” As part of this effort, the FSB said, he bought a car and rented an apartment near Tatarsky’s home.

On April 3, after Tatarsky was killed, Denisov flew from Russia to Armenia and continued on to Turkey, according to the FSB. The agency said it has begun the process of putting Denisov on the international wanted list.