If anyone wants on my general ping list, freepmail me...Article has photo of the damage, and says 30 people were injured. Excerpted; photos at stie.
Ukraine Terror: Russian War Correspondent Killed in Bomb Attack in Saint Petersburg – Woman Arrested by Security Forces Says She Was Duped Into Participating – Kremlin Blames Kiev
An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in a St. Petersburg cafe this Sunday (April 2nd), killing war correspondent and blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and injuring more than 30 people participating in a ‘creative evening’.
The bomb was hid inside a statuette, a bust of Tatarsky that was gifted to him by a young woman, later revealed to be Daria Trepova.
Slavyangrad, on Telegram, reports:
“There were up to 100 people. A [woman] was sitting at a table alone. She said, ‘I’m an artist; I wanted to work on [Special Military Operation] heroism, but it’s not easy. So I’ve only made your bust so far.’
[…] She goes there, takes a big box, and gives it to him; it’s something gilded. He jokes, ‘I hope you didn’t make me fat.’ He says thanks and puts it down. She sits back down, and about 3 minutes go by. Explosion, boom, flames—everyone runs.”
While IED attacks have been fairly common in the war zone in Ukraine, this is the second terrorist attack carried out ‘in the very heart of Russia’.
The first was the daughter of famed philosopher (and Putin advisor) Alexander Dugin, who died in the Moscow region – and now Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in St. Petersburg.
They were both ‘soft targets’, with high visibility and symbolic significance, but with little to no security.
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Russian Internal Affairs Ministry sources are claiming that the terror attack was carefully planned in advance by the Ukrainian security apparatus, with multiple terrorists involved.