On Thursday, a Russian court passed a sentence of 27 years in prison to Darya Trepova for her role in an alleged terrorist attack that resulted in the demise of pro-war military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, known by his real name Maxim Fomin, at a café in St. Petersburg. Russian authorities arrested Trepova, following the April 2 attack conducted last year and later presented a video showing her supposed confession (TASS, Jurist).
Aged 26, Trepova was found guilty of terrorism-related charges for her involvement in Tatarsky’s death by a St. Petersburg court. Tatarsky, a scrupulous advocate of Russia’s military movement in Ukraine, was leading a conversation with other news observers at a café when Trepova handed him a statuette containing a bomb, killing him and injuring several others. Videos released at the time depict Trepova passing Tatarsky the lethal statuette – a tiny golden figurine – from inside a cardboard box (Twitter). Further footage on social media reveals Trepova absconding the scene in the aftermath of the explosion (Twitter).
In her defence, Trepova has constantly refuted having any familiarity with the bomb and insisted that she believed the figurine was carrying a bug, not an explosive device. She also stated that she was manipulated by a Ukrainian contact with whom she had been communicating for several months and from whom she had received financial transfers (Jurist).
In addition to these revelations, several charges were brought against Trepova, including conducting a terrorist attack as part of an organized group that led to a person’s deliberate death, illegal ownership of explosive devices, and use of forged documents. She was held responsible for all the charges, as reported on Thursday from the courtroom by TASS, the Russian state-owned news agency.
The sentence given to Trepova calls for 27 hard years in a medium-security prison with a 600,000-ruble fine (approximately $6,750), followed by two years of probation upon release. Given the severity, this sentence marks one of the most stringent handed to a woman in Russian judicial history.
Besides Trepova, Dmitry Kasintev was also found guilty for sheltering Trepova post the deadly attack. The court sentenced him to 21 months in a medium-security prison.
The incident of April 2 isn’t singular. Multiple Russian pro-war advocates have been targeted since the advent of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Prior to this, the Russian government alleged Ukraine’s involvement in the murder of Darya Dugina, who lost her life to a bomb explosion under her car (BBC). Dugina was the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, a far-right defendant of the incumbent President, Vladimir Putin.
Trepova continues to assert her innocence and her legal team has announced plans to file an appeal. Meanwhile, Ukraine rejects any involvement in the killings.