Kiev Regime Has Been Targeting People Since 2014, May Very Well Be Behind Tatarsky's Murder: Kremlin

The 40-year-old Donbass-born journalist and war correspondent was killed in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg on Sunday. Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed Monday that the suspect in the blast had been detained.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed about Sunday's terrorist attack in St. Petersburg, and the active phase of the investigation into the attack is under way, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has announced.

"We wish a speedy recovery to those who suffered as a result of this terrorist attack and, of course, offer condolences to the family and friends of [Maxim] Fomin [Vladlen Tatarsky's birth name, ed.], who died as a result of this terrorist attack," Peskov told reporters on Monday.

Asked whether Russia is now facing a wave of terrorism, Peskov said that what Russia is facing is the Kiev regime. "This is a regime that supports terrorist actions, which is responsible for the murder of Daria Dugina. A regime which quite possibly is behind Fomin's murder, and behind the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg, which is responsible for the murder of people for many years, since 2014," Peskov said.

Earlier, in the day, Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee announced that the April 2 attack that killed Vladlen Tatarsky was masterminded by Ukraine's special services.

According to the committee's information, Ukraine's special services recruited agents for the journalist's killing from among supporters of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, a Russian non-profit established by opposition figure and vlogger Alexei Navalny. The Anti-Corruption Foundation banned in Russia as a "foreign agent" and an "extremist" organization.

The suspect in the Tatarsky case, 26-year-old St. Petersburg native Daria Trepova, is an "active supporter" of the Navalny-tied group, the committee said.

Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in an explosion in a cafe in St. Petersburg on Sunday. 32 people were injured in the blast, ten of them seriously. Russian media reported that the explosive device used in the attack was brought to an event attended by Tatarsky disguised as a figurine in a box, and presented to him as a gift.

Tatarsky had a major following on social media for his reporting on the Ukrainian crisis, and combined his stories and analyses with reporting directly from the front lines as a war correspondent, and a drone operator. The journalist was a veteran of Donbass militias, where he served between 2014 and 2019.

The Donbass is approaching the ninth anniversary of a brutal civil war-turned large-scale regional conflict, which began in the spring of 2014, several weeks after a US-backed coup d'etat in Kiev brought pro-Western political forces to power. The coup sparked large-scale protests across eastern and southeastern Ukraine. In the Donbass, local residents held referendums to join Russia, and set up militias to defend against Ukrainian military units sent to crush the rebellion. In February 2015, Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany negotiated an agreement meant to restore peace - involving the Donbass's gradual reincorporation into Ukraine in exchange for guarantees of broad autonomy. Last year, the former leaders of Ukraine, France and Germany each admitted that the peace deal was a ruse designed to give Kiev time to rearm and prepare for a broader conflict with Russia.