Russia takes over presidency of UN Security Council; ‘bad optics’ for West, propaganda win for Putin: experts
FOX NewsDec 23, 2022
The Facts
A blast in a St Petersburg café on Sunday killed a prominent Russian military blogger and injured 32 other civilians — 10 of whom remain in serious condition, Russian authorities said on Monday.
Russian officials also confirmed that they arrested Darya Trepova on Monday — a St Petersburg resident wanted in connection with the blast after she was seen handing a figurine (the source of the blast) to Vladlen Tatarsky moments before it detonated and took his life. Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had more than 560K followers on Telegram and was one of the country’s most influential military bloggers.
The Spin
Anti-Russia narrative
The murder of the Russian military blogger took place inside a café owned by Wagner PMC head Yevgeny Prigozhin. This was likely intended as a warning to Prigozhin, who has questioned the Kremlin's talking points on Ukraine, and was part of an effort by Russian authorities to consolidate control of the information space.
Pro-Russia narrative
This was a despicable act of terrorism that resulted in the death of one person and injured 30 more. Russia's National Antiterrorism Committee is still investigating the crime and it remains too early to identify the motive. However, there are signs that Ukraine's Security Service may have had a hand to play.