Putin awards Vladlen Tatarsky Order of Gallantry posthumously

Vladimir Putin has issued a decree awarding the state Order of Gallantry to the military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky posthumously. The self-styled “war correspondent” was killed by a bomb on Sunday, while hosting a reading in St. Petersburg.

The prosecution had initially filed murder charges, but has since re-qualified the case as a terrorist attack, punishable by 15–20 years in prison.

The prime suspect in the case is a St. Petersburg woman named Daria Trepova. Investigators allege that the terrorist act was coordinated from Ukraine, and that Trepova’s political sympathies allied her with Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

ACF itself denies any connection with the explosion that killed Tatarsky and injured 30 other guests at the event.