Moscow, April 5, (dpa/GNA) – Russian prosecutors on Tuesday formally charged a 26-year-old woman with terrorism in connection with the death of a pro-Russian military blogger in an explosion in a St Petersburg café on Sunday.
The suspect, who was arrested on Monday, is alleged to have handed a bust filled with explosives to Maxim Fomin, who blogged as Vladlen Tatarsky, in the café.
“In the ensuing explosion, Fomin was killed, and more than 30 people who were in the cafe suffered various injuries,” the investigating commission said.
Tatarsky was a strong proponent of the Russian invasion and had called for the “total destruction of Ukraine.”
He was intending to speak on Sunday about his experiences as a reporter in the war zone in eastern Ukraine. The St Petersburg café is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group.
A video released by the Interior Ministry shows the accused admitting to handing the bust to Tatarsky. In the video, she did not admit to planning a murder. Her husband stated that his wife assumed the bust contained a microphone for eavesdropping on Tatarsky.
The woman faces life in prison if found guilty of terrorism.
On Monday, Russia blamed Ukrainian secret services and said the suspect is close to prominent dissident Alexei Navalny for the attack.
Ukraine has denied all involvement in the incident and people close to Navlany rejected the Russian accusation, saying it was the Russian secret service, the FSB, who was behind the attack.
GNA