Russian police arrest woman over bombing that killed pro-war blogger

Russian police have arrested a woman suspected of delivering a bomb that killed a prominent pro-war Russian military blogger in a blast in a cafe in central St Petersburg on Sunday, as authorities blamed Ukraine for the attack.

Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed by a bomb blast as he was hosting a discussion with other pro-war commentators at a cafe on the banks of the Neva River in the historic heart of St Petersburg.

Police said they had identified a woman called Darya Trepova as the suspect and that she was arrested in an apartment in St Petersburg after a search on Monday morning. Authorities said she was a supporter of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

In a statement, Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee claimed the attack was “planned by the special services of Ukraine with the involvement of agents from those who had cooperated with the so-called Navalny Anti-Corruption Fund [Foundation]”.

Sources in the country’s interior ministry told the RBK news outlet that the attack was “carefully planned in advance by several people”.