Woman detained in connection with Russian cafe blast that killed military blogger

A woman has been taken into custody as a suspect in relation to a blast that occurred at a St. Petersburg café in Russia resulting in the death of Russian nationalist and pro-war military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, and injuring several others.

Daria Trepova, 26, was apprehended following her identification as a suspect for the explosion by the Russian Investigative Committee. The announcement was made in the early morning hours of Monday EST.

Tatarsky, 40, was meeting members of the public at the cafe when he was given a statuette containing an explosive by a woman, resulting in his death. A group of patriotic Russians who had arranged the event informed that security measures had been taken, but were found to be inadequate due to the occurrence.

Tatarsky was famously known for filing periodic reports from Ukraine and the Kremlin. He had over 560,000 followers on his Telegram messaging app channel and went by the pen name Maxim Fomin. His pro-war rhetoric was well known.

In a video he posted about last year’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine by the Kremlin, Tatarsky pledged, “That’s it. We’ll defeat everybody, kill everybody, rob everybody we need to. It will all be the way we like it. God be with you.”

An online video depicts a woman, who may or may not be Trepova, entering the café carrying a box, shortly before the blast occured, and photos of the woman inside the venue, near Tatarsky, also circulated online.

According to Nexta, a Belarusian news outlet, Trepova was detained at an anti-war rally in late February.