According to media reports, an anti-war female activist accused of assassinating one of Vladimir Putin‘s propagandists by dragging a statue loaded with explosives into a cafe was apprehended on Monday.
Vladlen Tatarsky, real name Maxim Fomin, was blown to bits on Sunday after Daria Trepova (26) allegedly entered a cafe in Saint Petersburg and handed him a tiny statue of himself laced with explosives, according to the Daily Mail.
Tatarsky (40), a fervent admirer of Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, was speaking at a political gathering at the Street Food No 1 café when the device exploded next to him, killing the propagandist and wounding 32 others in a ‘terrorist assault,’ according to the Kremlin.
The Investigative Committee of Russia stated on Monday that Trepova had been apprehended in a leased flat in Saint Petersburg on suspicion of carrying out the killing. For the first time since her arrest, Trepova declared she had been “set up” and “used.”
According to the Daily Mail, Russia’s top counterterrorism agency stated – without presenting evidence – that Trepova carried out the attack with the assistance of ‘Ukraine secret services’ and activists affiliated to imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexey Navalny.
That happened after a disturbing video surfaced showing Trepova, a Saint Petersburg resident previously arrested for participating in anti-war protests, strolling into the café carrying what seemed to be a figurine containing 450 grammes of TNT – only minutes before it detonated, according to the Daily Mail.
