Ex-president and Putin henchman Dmitry Medvedev blames the opposition for the death of military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
MUNICH – An explosion at a cafe in the Russian city of St. Petersburg last Sunday (April 2) killed prominent Kremlin military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
Like many of his colleagues, the so-called “war correspondent” and ex-militia commander was known as a hardliner on the Ukraine war.
With the young woman Daria Trepova, the Russian authorities have already presented a suspect.
Attack in St. Petersburg: Medvedev rages against opposition – “These bastards”
For the Deputy Head of Russia's Security Council and former President Dmitry Medvedev, Trepova is apparently just the tip of the iceberg.
He is certain that the opposition in Russia is behind the incident.
"Terrorism is back on our streets, in our cities," Medvedev wrote in the short message service Telegram on Tuesday.
The "non-systemic opposition" supported by the West is at war against its own people, according to Medvedev.
"These bastards not only openly want the defeat of Russia and the death of our motherland, now they are executing their compatriots," continued the acolyte of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, naming names.
Opposition politicians like Alexei Navalny or Ilya Ponomarev are "ordinary terrorists and murderers".
They would hire, “feed” and “finance” assassins with the help of Western countries.
"The sight of the blood of Russian citizens" brings joy to these people, Medvedev claimed, underlining that "terrorists" will not be negotiated with.
Instead, he added new threats to his regular ones: "They will be exterminated like rabid dogs with poisonous saliva flowing out of their mouths." "As soon as the opportunity arises," they will do so: "Even if it sometimes takes years.
Forgiveness and compassion are not applicable to them.
That is the supreme justice.”
Russian military blogger dies in explosion: Prigozhin contradicts official Kremlin statement
Medvedev's statements coincide with the official Kremlin line on the explosion in St. Petersburg.
Investigators from the Russian Anti-Terrorism Committee blamed Ukrainian secret services and supporters of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Navalny for the attack on Monday.
"The terrorist attack was planned by Ukrainian intelligence services with the help of agents collaborating with the so-called Anti-Corruption Foundation," the committee said.
However, two other theories about the explosion are currently in focus.
Unlike Medvedev, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin's chef”, contradicted the Kremlin's version.
Rather, he sees a group of radical opponents of the war, independent of the Ukrainian government, behind the attack.
"I would not blame the regime in Kiev for these actions," he said.
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
Internal conflict in Russia?
US think tank warns bloggers are possible
Experts from the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) provided what is probably the most interesting explanation for the attack.
Accordingly, the incident could be the consequence of an internal dispute in Russia.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Michailo Podoliak agreed with this assessment.
According to the ISW, the Kremlin may have wanted to send some kind of warning to Prigozhin by killing Tatarsky.
The Wagner boss repeatedly criticizes military decisions in the Ukraine war.
According to local media, the explosion happened in a cafe owned by Prigozhin.
After Tatarsky's death, nervousness mounts among the rest of Russian military bloggers.
Like Prigozhin, they often complain about setbacks and the lack of breakthroughs in Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense and the management level are regularly targeted.
Tatarski was also among the critics.
According to the ISW, Putin could now use the attack to censor these complaints in the military blogger scene.
The military expert Gerald Karner took the same line as the US institute.
He sees a warning not only to Prigozhin, but to all bloggers who question the Kremlin's warfare.
It is possible "that they wanted to send a massive warning by turning off the loudest one," he told Austrian broadcaster
Puls24
.
Navalny's team also blamed the Russian domestic secret service FSB for the explosion and rejected the Kremlin's allegations.
On Monday it also published new observations at Putin's residence in Sochi.
(bb)
