Inside the assassination of pro-Putin blogger in Russian bar

The assassination of a pro-Vladimir Putin “milblogger” in St Petersburg points to “further fractures within the Kremlin and its inner circle,” according to a new evaluation.

Prominent “war correspondent” Maxim Fomin, who was also known as Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in a “deliberate and targeted attack,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Sunday. Police were alerted to the explosion at 6.13 p.m. local time, and Russian law enforcement officials told state media that Fomin was the intended target of the “makeshift” device.

It still isn’t clear who was responsible for the explosion that killed Fomin and injured dozens of others at the bar, named as the Street Food Bar #1 Café. Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti reported that 32 people had been injured as of Monday morning, with eight people still being treated in hospital.

He was one of the most “significant” voices in the influential Russian “milblogger” community, with a “deep connection” to the Kremlin, Russian nationalists, Russian separatists in the Donbas region of Ukraine and the Wagner mercenary group, the ISW said. Amassing more than 500,000 Telegram followers, Fomin was a vocal supporter of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, as well as a critic of the Russian military and defense ministry.

Russia’s government investigative committee said a murder investigation had been opened.

According to Russian state outlet RBC, a 26-year-old woman has been arrested, although other state media outlets haven’t confirmed whether she has been detained.

Russian state media outlet REN TV published footage reportedly filmed just before the explosion, saying the “explosive device was planted in advance.” In the footage, Fomin is handed a statue, which some reports have said contained the explosive. Newsweek has been unable to independently verify this claim.

Russian media reported that a woman had identified herself as “Nastya” before handing Fomin the statuette.

The explosion took place at a location that Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said he owned, and he had allowed a Russian nationalist group to use for “seminars.” In a statement posted to Telegram, Prigozhin said he had allowed a Russian nationalist group Cyber Front Z to use the space, which was advertised on the organization’s Telegram channel.

Fomin had attended another event earlier in the day “without incident, so it appears that the attack was deliberately staged in a space owned by Prigozhin,” the ISW wrote.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova appeared to blame Ukraine for the explosion, saying: “Russian journalists are constantly experiencing threats of reprisals from the Kyiv regime and its inspirers, which are increasingly being implemented.”

Fomin’s “service to the Fatherland aroused hatred among the Kyiv regime,” she added in a statement.

Prigozhin said he “would not blame the Kyiv regime for these actions,” suggesting a “group of radicals that is hardly related to the government” could be responsible.

Writing on Twitter, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said “spiders are eating each other in a jar,” calling “domestic terrorism” in Russia an “instrument of internal political fight.”

Describing Fomin as a “Wagner-affiliated convict,” the ISW said Fomin “does not appear to have been a target worthy of special attention from Kyiv.”

Fomin’s assassination may be part of a “larger pattern of escalating Russian internal conflicts” involving the Wagner Group and Prigozhin, the think tank said.

“Fomin’s assassination may have been intended as a warning to Prigozhin,” the ISW wrote.