Vision Counterterrorism Newsletter [02/04/2023 to 10/04/2023]

It has been a very hectic and tragic week in counterterrorism with many major incidents occurring. Due to the significance of the events some topics will have seprate, more detailed articles written about them (that will be linked within this newsletter). There will still be a brief summary of events within this newsletter, as well as, wrtite-ups of other news from this week. 

Russian Police at the Scene of the Explosion [Source: NPR]

Suspect Arrested in Russian Blogger Explosion

On April 2nd Russian Military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in an explosion in St Petersburg. The rather bizarre explosion seems to have occurred during a meet-up with his subscribers. A woman handed him a gold bust of himself before promptly leaving. Unbeknownst to Tatarsky, the gift he was presented with would explode killing him and injuring 30 others. Tatarsky, real name Maxim Fomin, was extremely popular on Telegram, with over 560,000 followers on the app. The majority of Tatarsky's content was geared toward the ongoing war with Ukraine. The blogger was extremely Pro-Russian and would often travel to the frontlines to film with Russian soldiers. Tatarsky himself was from the disputed Donetsk Region, where he fought for Russian occupation of the area. In more recent times, he became a prominent critic of the Russian Ministry of Defence for their lack of success in the Ukraine war. He would chastise the officers of the war calling them, "untrained idiots". (Sauer and Roth, 2023) The location of this fan meetup also has multiple links to the Pro-Russian movement, including to Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Paramilitary Group. The Wagner Group has been assisting Russia with their war in Ukraine. The venue also held a weekly discussion called Cyberfront Z, referring to the Z symbol which has become synonymous with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Financial Times, 2023) All of these things make Tatarsky and the restaurant a prime location for a Pro-Ukrainian terror attack. However, many think that is not the case and that this may have been perpetrated by the Kremlin itself.

Tatarsky was not just a random blogger but had close links to the Russian Government. Last September, the blogger attended a ceremony at the Kremlin, where Putin laid out Russian annexation plans for Ukraine. Tatarsky was filmed at the event saying, "We’ll conquer everyone, we’ll kill everyone, we’ll loot whoever we need to, and everything will be just as we like it". The Kremlin understood the power of social media in the war and organised a task force to oversee the work of pro-military bloggers. Some believe that the Kremlin was responsible for the explosion. In a similar incident, last year, in August, the daughter of a prominent ultranationalist was killed in an explosion. The Russian Government blamed the Ukrainian Secret Service, others blamed the Kremlin. Some suspect that Tatarsky's criticism of Russia's military leadership was the reason for his assassination. Whilst both sides cast the blame onto one another, Prigozhin, the Wagner Group leader, blamed radical Ukranians, not the state government. 

A video posted to Mash, a Russian law enforcement Telegram group, showed the moment Tatarsky was handed the gold bust, which would later kill him. In the video, a blonde woman gives him the statue. She was quickly identified as Darya Trepova and arrested. The Russian Antiterror Committee believed that she was a member of the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation, an anti-Putin organisation. They claim the foundation worked in conjunction with the Ukranian secret service. Ukraine suspects that Trepova had been tricked into committing the attack by the Russian Government. (Sauer, 2023) Only a brief portion of her interrogation has been released, showing no real motive or reasoning by Trepova herself. There has only been speculation by both sides, with Russia claiming it was a Ukranian terror attack and Ukraine believing it was a domestic terror incident. 

We will keep you updated as this story breaks.

Tensions Reach a Boiling Point on the West Bank

Tensions in the West Bank have reached their worst since 2006. After Israeli police raided a Mosque a few days ago, retributory attacks from terror groups have reached a boiling point. This has resulted in multiple missile barrages from both sides. Clashes between Israel and its Arab neighbours have resulted in a new crisis in the Middle East.

The US Kill ISIS Leader in Syria

On the 3rd of April, the US launched a drone strike in Syria that killed its leader Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri. Al-Jabouri was key in planning attacks in Europe. Despite this being a huge blow to the organisation, ISIS still poses a large threat in Syria and surrounding Middle Eastern nations. Al-Jabouri was also crucial in organising the ISIS leadership hierarchy. (CENTCOM, 2023) With the death of al-Jabouri, the threat of international attacks from ISIS has diminished immensely. Now, the main focus for counter-terror forces in the middle east will be to launch attacks against national ISIS leaders, minimising the chances of an attack within the country. 

Possibility of an IRA attack

According to Northern Irish Police, there has been intelligence gathered that a terror attack is highly possible over the Easter weekend. This Easter marks 25 years since the groundbreaking Good Friday Agreement was reached. The Easter weekend is extremely significant to the terror issues in Ireland. The Easter Uprising is possibly THE most significant event in all of the Republic of Ireland's history. With this, it's believed an attack is extremely likely this easter weekend. 

More information about the possibility of attack and updates to the situation can be found here:

The raising of the Terror Threat in the UK due to the New IRA: https://visionmilitarynews.blogspot.com/2023/04/vision-counterterrorism-newsletter.html

Possibilty of an Easter Attack: https://visionmilitarynews.blogspot.com/2023/04/will-there-be-new-ira-attack-this.html

British Special Forces investigated for Unlawful Killings in Afghanistan 

After years of legal campaigning, the British Armed Forces have started an investigation into the unlawful killing of Afghan civilians and whether subsequent investigations were carried out properly. This comes after multiple legal challenges from victims' families. Their lawyers allege that 8 Afghans were killed by British Special Forces during a nighttime raid. This new enquiry will investigate all matters involving alleged unlawful killings by the Special Forces from 2010 to 2013. 

These investigations are not only based on the testimony from the victim's families but also from a BBC investigation which found the SAS had killed civilians whilst on night raids. The 2022 report found that the Special Air Service, one of the most prestigious military units in the world, would plant weapons on unlawfully killed civilians to frame them. When presented with this evidence, the Ministry of Defence would refuse to investigate further, arguing that the matters had already been thoroughly examined. Now, it seems like that wasn't the case, with a full reinvestigation of all suspected unlawful killings. 

An independent judge has been assigned to oversee the case. Leigh Day, the law firm representing the families, stated that knowledge of unlawful killings in Afghanistan was well-known but never reported to the military police. (Al Jazeera, 2023) To the families this news is bittersweet. For years they have had to live through such an ordeal and fight against this huge injustice. With this inquiry being opened, hopefully, the families can finally have answers. 

Reference List

Financial Times (2023). Russian pro-war blogger killed in St Petersburg restaurant blast. Financial Times. [online] 2 Apr. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/e0823df3-e5ec-4c44-a111-a0c311e3e107 [Accessed 8 Apr. 2023].

Sauer, P. (2023). Russian pro-war military blogger killed in blast at St Petersburg cafe. The Guardian. [online] 3 Apr. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/02/russian-pro-war-military-blogger-killed-blast-st-petersburg-vladlen-tatarsky [Accessed 8 Apr. 2023].

Sauer, P. and Roth, A. (2023). Russian police arrest woman over bombing that killed pro-war blogger. The Guardian. [online] 3 Apr. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/03/russian-police-arrest-woman-over-bombing-that-killed-pro-war-blogger-vladlen-tatarsky.

U.S. Central Command. (2023). Strike Kills ISIS Leader in Syria. [online] Available at: https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/3350738/strike-kills-isis-leader-in-syria/#:~:text=TAMPA%2C%20Fla. [Accessed 8 Apr. 2023].

www.aljazeera.com. (22AD). UK begins inquiry into ‘unlawful killings’ in Afghanistan. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/22/uk-launches-inquiry-into-british-army-killing-in-afghanistan [Accessed 2 Apr. 2023].