Russian Woman Darya Trepova Gets 27 Years In Prison for Café Bomb Killing
Darya Trepova, a Russian national, has received a 27-year prison sentence for the assassination of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in April.
A bomb planted in a figurine that Trepova had given Tatarsky murdered him just before he was set to speak in St. Petersburg. A number of people were hurt in the explosion.
The 26-year-old Trepova vehemently contested the claims, stating that she believed the sculpture had a listening device.
She said she was set up and had followed the instructions of a Ukrainian contact.
Trepova has been accused of "a terrorist act carried out by an organized group causing intentional death" as well as "illegal possession of explosive devices by an organized group”.
Ukrainian authorities have remained silent on the matter, while Russian investigators have asserted that their country was responsible for the assault.
In court, nevertheless, Trepova testified that she had been obeying the directions of a man in Ukraine referred to as Gestalt (German for "shape").
Roman Popkov, a journalist working in Ukraine, allegedly put her in touch with him. Opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, she had been pursuing a journalistic opportunity in Ukraine.
According to Trepova, she was taught by Gestalt to win Tatarsky's confidence by attending his lectures and posing as an art student named Anastasia Kriulina.
Gestalt supposedly gave the figurine to her in March with the assurance that it included a tracker and a wiretap. According to her, she voiced her worry that it may have explosives inside.
"I feel great pain and shame that my gullibility and my naivety led to such catastrophic consequences. I didn't want to hurt anyone," Trepova told the court this week, quoted by Reuters.
"I feel special pain and shame that a terrorist act was carried out by my own hands."
Despite his criminal history, Tatarsky became a prominent blogger with over 500,000 followers.
He claimed to have joined Russian-backed separatists after being released from prison, where he was serving time for armed robbery. He was born in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, he has been quite prominent within a group of pro-Kremlin military bloggers.
Many Russian officials, including Tatarsky, have been vocal in their criticism of the government, the military, and President Vladimir Putin in response to military defeats.
However, Mr. Putin bestowed the Order of Courage upon him after his death.