"Beware strangers bearing gifts": Vladlen Tatarsky video goes viral as female assassin is arrested

Vladlen Tatarsky, a Russian military blogger, was killed on Sunday, April 2, at a St. Petersburg cafe when a bomb hidden inside a statue exploded. As per Russia’s state Investigative Committee, Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old anti-war protester who was allegedly involved in the blast, was arrested by Russian authorities.

Tatarsky was at the Street Bar cafe on Sunday, delivering a talk to an audience of around 100 people, when a woman gave him a figurine as a gift, which exploded shortly after. According to Alexander Beglov, the regional governor, around 25 people were injured, among whom 19 were hospitalized.

Trigger Warning: This article contains links to videos showing the aftermath of the blast. Viewers' discretion is advised.

Video footage of the aftermath at the cafe was shared on social media, and CCTV footage was also released where a woman was seen carrying a box into the cafe. In reaction to the unexpected attack, one Twitter user, @Strohmann6, wrote that one should be aware of strangers who come “bearing gifts.”

---

Vladlen Tatarsky's suspected assassin was previously detained by the authorities

On Monday, April 3, the Russian Interior Ministry identified the suspect in the blast as Darya Trepova, a resident of St. Petersburg who was previously also detained for partaking in anti-war rallies.

According to the Interfax news agency, Darya Trepova was on the run following the explosion and was also put on the wanted list. Her apartment was searched, and her mother and sister were interrogated. Shortly after, it was announced on Telegram that Trepova had been arrested.

Trepova was previously arrested in the early days of the war between Russia and Ukraine for demonstrating against it. As per the news agency TASS, Trepova participated in an unsanctioned protest rally on the day Russia’s special military operation started in Ukraine. Court records also confirmed Trepova’s arrest on March 9, 2022. She received a 10-day sentence in prison.

Trepova’s husband, Dmitry Rylov, a former member of Russia’s Libertarian Party, said he was convinced that his wife was set up. Rylov said that, as per his knowledge, Daria was needed for some task of giving someone a gift. He added:

“There is one very important point that she told me several times: she was sure this thing would allow access to a person. That is, it was not something that should have exploded. Dasha [Daria], in principle, is not the kind of person who could kill anyone.”

Alisa Smotrova, a direct witness to the blast, said that a woman introducing herself as Nastya told Tatarsky that she made a figurine of him in his honor. However, the guards suspected it could be a bomb, so she had to leave it at the door.

They joked and laughed about it, after which she went to the door to get the bust and gave it to Tatarsky. The blogger joked about it again and put it on the table next to him, after which it exploded.

Another witness said that the woman who entered the cafe with the statuette sat at their table. After handing Vladlen Tatarsky the figurine, she sat in a different place by the window and also forgot her phone at the previous table.

While speaking to Russian state media, the witness further added:

“The host at the stage took the figurine from the box and showcased it. Vladlen held it for a bit. They put it back, and shortly after the explosion happened…I was running, and my ears were blocked. There were many people with blood on them.”

As of yet, nobody has claimed accountability for the attack, nor has any clear evidence been produced. But Denis Pushilin, the leader of the part of Donetsk province in Ukraine, which Russia occupies, described the Kyiv regime as a terrorist regime. He said that it needed to be destroyed and that there was no other way to stop it.

---

More about military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky

Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was part of an influential group of military bloggers providing a running commentary on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Despite avoiding direct criticism of Vladimir Putin, these bloggers have been enthusiastic cheerleaders of the war.

40-year-old Vladlen Tatarsky was among the group’s best-known members, who publicly demanded that Russia should prosecute the war even more aggressively. When Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, visited Kherson after Russia retreated from the city in November 2022, Vladlen Tatarsky asked why Moscow had not pursued the chance and assassinated him with a drone.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Vladlen Tatarsky was the second high-profile pro-Putin war propagandist to be assassinated. Journalist Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent ultra-nationalist figure, was the first to be assassinated in a car bomb near Moscow in August 2022.