Trouble is brewing in Russia: a pro-war blogger killed in a suspicious bombing

One of Russia’s most prominent pro-war military bloggers was murdered over the weekend in a targeted assassination that has led some to speculate the killing was part of a larger internal power struggle unfolding between different factions inside of Russia.

According to a Reuters report, Vladlen Tatarsky was killed after being handed a homemade explosive during a live event hosted by the pro-war group Cyber Z Front.

Photo by CzarTalks, Own Work, Wiki Commons

Reuters added that more than 30 people were said to have also been injured in the blast and a Russian national named Darya Trepova was later arrested and accused of being the person who brought the explosive that ended Tatarsky's life.

Photo by Telegram @vicktop55

Closed-circuit television footage released by Russia's Interior Ministry and taken before the explosion showed Trepova bringing a large statute with her to the Cyber Z Front event according to Sky News, a statute that was given to Tatarsky in a different video just moments before the explosion occurred. 

Photo by Telegram @vicktop55

“I was the one who snuck in the statuette that exploded," Trepova said in a video of her interrogation released by Russia’s Interior Ministry. When asked why she was detained, Trpova said, “I would say, for being at the scene of Vladlen Tatarsky's murder."

According to the Associated Press, Trepova had been previously detained for attending anti-war rallies and the news organization noted that Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee called Tatarsky's alleged killer an “active supporter” of Alexy Navalny.

Photo by Twitter @TreasChest

Moscow was quick to lay blame for the attack at the feet of Ukrainian Special Forces, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov gave a statement on April 3rd explaining that Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee had found proof of Ukraine’s involvement. 

"This is a terrorist act, you and I have seen the National Antiterrorism Committee’s statement,” Peskov told reporters according to The Russian News Agency (TASS). 

“There is evidence, judging by the National Antiterrorism Committee’s statement, that Ukrainian special services may be involved in the planning of this terrorist attack, and, of course, this is a terrorist attack," Peskov added.

Other Russian officials weren’t as quick to blame Tatarsky's murder on Ukraine and Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin hinted in a video that the bombing could have been done by a “group of radicals” and doubted that Ukraine was involved. 

Speculation from Prigozhin is interesting since the bar that was bombed used to be owned by the mercenary captain according to BCC News, and Tatarsky, while a pro-war blogger, was highly critical of Moscow’s approach to the conflict in Ukraine. 

“He emerged as one of the loudest critics of Russia’s defense ministry over the last year for its inability to achieve military gains in Ukraine, and frequently traveled with Russian troops on the frontlines,” wrote The Guardian’s Pjotr Sauer. 

Photo by Telegram @vladlentatarsky

“In one instance he called for a tribunal for the Russian military leadership, describing Moscow’s top officers as ‘untrained idiots’,” Sauer added.

The Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolak tweeted that Tatarsky's assassination was the beginning of something in Russia and added: “Spiders are eating each other in a jar,” presumably indicating that a conflict in Russia was brewing. 

“Question of when domestic terrorism would become an instrument of [the] internal political fight was a matter of time... Irreversible processes and Troubles 2.0. await RF. While we will watch,” Podolak added. 

Tatarsky had amassed a following of over 560,000 Telegram subscribers by the time of his death and was well known for his over-the-top displays of support for Russia and the Russian-backed separatists attempting to break away from Ukraine. 

Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxin Formin, was originally born in Ukraine according to the Associated Press and had a sordid life before fleeing from bank robbery charges to Russia and becoming an advocate for pro-Russian separatists in Donbas. 

Photo by Telegram @vladlentatarsky