1 Institute for the Study of War & The Critical Threats Project 2023
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 2, 2023
Kateryna Stepanenko and Frederick W. Kagan
April 2, 8:45 pm ET
Click here to see ISWs interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This map is
updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.
Click here to access ISWs archive of interactive time-lapse maps of the Russian invasion
of Ukraine. These maps complement the static control-of-terrain maps that ISW
produces daily by showing a dynamic frontline. ISW will update this time-lapse map
archive monthly.
ISW is publishing an abbreviated campaign update today, April 2. This report discusses
the assassination of prominent pro-war Russian milblogger Maksim Fomin (also known
as Vladlen Tatarsky) in St. Petersburg on April 2. Fomin was one of the most significant
Russian milbloggers with a Telegram platform of 560,000 followers and deep
connections with the Wagner Group, the Kremlin, the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR),
and the Russian nationalists who have been dominating the Russian information space
since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Fomins assassination at a
Wagner-affiliated bar in St. Petersburg may reveal further fractures within the Kremlin
and its inner circle. Fomin was a vocal critic of the Russian military command and the
Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD). Fomins death marks the first high-profile
assassination of an ultranationalist milblogger in Russia since the start of Russias
invasion of Ukraine.
Unknown actors killed Russian milblogger Maksim Fomin in a deliberate and targeted
attack during an event in a St. Petersburg bar reportedly belonging to Wagner Group
financier Yevgeny Prigozhin on April 2. Social media footage showed Fomin receiving a statue as
a gift from a female audience member who introduced herself as a sculptor moments before the
explosion.
1
Fomin was making a public presentation at the Street Food Bar #1 Café in downtown St.
Petersburg. Russian authorities reported that the explosion killed Fomin and wounded 30 audience
members who had gathered to listen to Fomin discuss his experience as a frontline correspondent.
2
The
event was advertised as open to the public and had approximately 100 attendees. Prigozhin confirmed
that he had offered his Street Food Bar #1 Café to the Russian ultranationalist movement Kiber Front
Z, to hold Fomins event and other nationalist gatherings.
3
Witnesses stated that the woman who
presented the statue to Fomin identified herself as Nastya and told the audience that the events security
asked her if there was a bomb inside the statue during a Q&A session.
4
Witnesses noted that there was
no security when entering the event, however, and that the explosion occurred within three to five
minutes after the exchange between Fomin and the woman.
5
Russian Interior Ministry sources told
Russian state media that the explosive may have remotely detonated and that the woman or other
unknown individuals may have been responsible for this attack.
6
Russian state media published
unconfirmed information that Russian police detained St. Peterburg resident Daria Trepova, who had
previously been arrested for anti-war protests in February 2022.
7
Russian Interior Ministry sources
also revealed that Russian special services had known about assassination plans against Fomin for a
long time.
