ISW: Russia blames Ukraine, jailed Putin critic Navalny for April 2 assassination of propagandist Tatarsky

Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee accused the Ukrainian special services of plotting with Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund to kill a high-profile Russian propagandist and "war correspondent" Maksim Fomin, also known as Vladlen Tatarsky.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov linked Tatarsky's death to that of Daria Dugina, another pro-invasion Russian journalist who was killed in an August 2022 car bombing. Peskov referred to both of their deaths as “terrorist acts.”

Russian authorities claimed that Fomin’s death was planned in Ukraine.

Russian officials have yet to agree on a single narrative regarding Tatarsky's death, the Institute for the Study of War said in their latest update. The lack of an official narrative has “led to disjointed responses from prominent pro-war voices,” according to the ISW.

The ISW linked the lack of a coherent narrative surrounding Tatarsky's death to a past issue surrounding responses to Ukraine’s successful Kharkiv Oblast counteroffensive, which “caused an information space breakdown that manifested in disjointed responses across the entire pro-war community.”

Many prominent Russian military bloggers have released statements on Tatarsky's death, hypothesizing different causes of death without much evidence from the investigation. This has led to a lack of consensus surrounding the causes and implications of his death.