A 26-year-old woman has been charged after a deadly explosion at a cafe in St Petersburg.
Pro-war military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky died in the blast as he prepared to give a talk at the cafe on Sunday. Around 30 other people were injured, with 10 left in a critical condition.
Daria Trepova was arrested and has now been charged with committing a “terrorist act by an organised group that caused intentional death”.
Ukraine war latest – Russia can’t get story straight on blogger ‘assassination’
She has been transferred from St Petersburg to Moscow where she will appear at Basmanny district court later on Tuesday.
Mr Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was a well-known supporter of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. He had more than 560,000 followers on Telegram.
Vladlen Tatarsky
Russia’s Investigation Committee has said Ms Trepova was instructed to set off the explosion by Ukrainian special forces.
They also believe she is an “active supporter” of the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation, also known as ACF or FBK, founded by imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Investigators allege that Ms Trepova hid a bomb inside a bust of the blogger that she gave to him as a gift just before the explosion.
She is being remanded in pre-trial detention ahead of her court hearing.
