A political activist in St. Petersburg known for his pacifist protests was stabbed to death, local media reported Tuesday.
Unconfirmed reports from the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Mash na Moika claimed that a 20-year-old “queer blogger” identified as “Alexander S.” had confessed to murdering activist Vitaly Ioffe.
According to the channel, Alexander S. allegedly stabbed Ioffe 20 times in northeastern St. Petersburg, attempted suicide but then turned himself in to the police in the city of Vyborg. Mash na Moika did not say how it came by this information.
There has been no official comment from St. Petersburg law enforcement regarding the reported murder. However, Ioffe’s daughter Elena confirmed her father’s death with the local news outlet Bumaga.
“I know for certain that he was killed,” she was quoted as saying by Bumaga, adding that the place of the murder reported by the media seemed accurate. However, she said she could not confirm whether the blogger identified as Alexander S. was involved.
According to the Telegram channel Rotunda, the 53-year-old Ioffe had participated in pacifist pickets following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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