On Sunday, one of the most infamous pro-Russian bloggers, Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in a deadly explosion in St. Petersburg cafe, leaving at least 25 others injured. Before the explosion, a woman handed Tatarsky a statuette of a miner -- he himself was formerly a miner. Seconds later, an explosive concealed within the statue detonated, killing the propagandist instantly. Darya Trepova, a St. Petersburg resident previously arrested for participating in antiwar rallies in February 2022, was detained as a suspect in the attack. Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, was from Marinka in eastern Ukraine and later became an influential military blogger, gaining nearly 560,000 followers on Telegram. His extreme rhetoric often involved urging increased attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and celebrating the massacre of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha.

Russian authorities are treating the attack as a "high-profile murder" as it was carefully planned and involved several people. Russia's anti-terrorism committee alleged Ukrainian special services were behind it "with people co-operating with" opposition leader Alexei Navalny. This latest violence is an unwelcome addition to tensions already present between Russia and Ukraine.