Anti-war movements issued a statement after the murder of Tatarsky

Russian and international anti-war movements issued a statement on Wednesday following the murder of pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. They condemn terrorist methods of political struggle. They associate the escalation of violence, including in peaceful regions, with Russia’s war in Ukraine, but emphasize that terrorism cannot be a method of fighting for positive changes.

Anti-war movements indicate that terror never leads to democratization, but on the contrary, unties the hands of the repressive machine. “We responsibly declare that we do not use such methods, we do not encourage our readers, supporters and activists to use them, and we will never intentionally put people’s lives at risk by manipulating activists,” the letter said.

The authors of the letter consider the Russian authorities and propagandists, politicians and oligarchs close to them to be responsible for the increase in violence, but they are sure that they must be held accountable before a fair court.

The statement was signed by the youth democratic movement “Vesna”, the School of Civil Education, the movement “Media Partisans”, the group “Austausch – for the European Civil Society”, the movement “Krakow for a Free Russia” and many others. A total of 19 anti-war movements and organizations from Russia and abroad signed the text.

• On April 2, pro-Kremlin military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky (real name Maksym Fomin) was killed in one of the St. Petersburg cafes at his own creative dinner. The cause of death was the explosion of a homemade bomb presented to Fomin under the guise of a souvenir statuette. More than 30 listeners were injured. The police detained 26-year-old Daria Trepova from St. Petersburg, who handed over the explosive device to Fomin. Law enforcement agencies opened a criminal case under the article about the terrorist attack.