Blogger's assassination 'may be sending message to Wagner chief'

The killing of a Russian military blogger may be "sending a message" to Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and could even have been carried out by Russia itself, a former senior military intelligence officer suggests.

Speaking to Sky News, Philip Ingram said pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was seen as "a part of Prigozhin's inner team" and was more supportive of his private military group than Vladimir Putin's operation.
The cafe targeted in St Petersburg yesterday was reportedly once owned by Mr Prigozhin, who has previously accused Moscow of failing to provide his troops with enough ammo, hampering its offensives.

Mr Ingram says there's speculation to suggest the "assassination" of Mr Tatarsky - also known as Maxim Fomin - "could have been sending a message to Prigozhin".
He added that Mr Prigozhin did not believe claims by anti-terrorism officials in Russia that Ukrainians were behind the attack.

"That translates into real tensions on the ground," Mr Ingram said.
Asked who could have been behind the blast if it was not Ukraine, he said "it could have been the Russians".
"It could have been the FSB [Russia's security service], it could have been someone in the centre, trying to send a message to Prigozhin."

Referring to reports that the explosion came after Mr Tatarsky was given a bust thought to contain explosives, Mr Ingram said it looks like "something spectacular that we've seen in the past".
He says Russia "like[s] to do something spectacular because it's all about sending the message."

The former intelligence officer said Mr Tatarsky was "openly critical" of the Russian foreign ministry in some of his blogs.
"People who've been critical have fallen out of windows have fallen down the stairs... expanding on that is a possibility."