Russia

Putin Awards Order of Courage to War Correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky Posthumously

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed the decree on awarding the Order of Courage to military reporter Vladlen Tatarsky posthumously.
Sputnik
"To award the Order of Courage to Fomin Maxim Yuryevich (Vladlen Tatarsky) - military correspondent (posthumously) for courage shown in professional duty," the decree reads.
40-year-old Russian war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky (real name Maxim Fomin) was killed on Sunday in a blast believed to have been caused by an explosive device brought into a St. Petersburg cafe by a female patron.
The Russian Investigative Committee has announced that the murder case is now being treated as a terror attack, which was masterminded in Ukraine.
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Furthermore, it was revealed that the suspect in the terror attack, 26-year-old Daria Trepova, is a supporter of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, a non-profit established by Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny. The organization is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.
Earlier in the day, Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee announced that the blast that killed Tatarsky on Sunday was plotted by the Ukrainian special services. The anti-terrorism committee obtained information that Ukraine's special services recruited agents for Tatarsky's killing from among supporters of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Trepova was detained and questioned on Monday. During the investigation, she confirmed that she gave Tatarsky a statuette as a gift at a St. Petersburg cafe on Sunday, just moments before the blast occurred. The statuette is believed to have been ridden with explosives.
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