A murderer caught on shocking video blowing up a pro-Putin war blogger in a busy Russian cafe has been sentenced to a record 27 years in prison.
Russian Darya Trepova, 26, received the harshest sentence imposed on any woman in modern Russian history after being found guilty of terrorism, handling explosives and using forged documents to kill Vladlen Tatarsky.
She was captured in a now-viral video last April approaching the blogger in a St. Petersburg cafe to hand him a golden bust of himself while giving a talk about the war.
“Oh, what a handsome boy! “Is that me?” exclaimed Tatarsky, 40, a popular military propagandist born Maxim Fomin.
He convinced Trepova to stay, and she was seen covering her face with her hands just as the gift exploded, killing Tatarsky on the spot and leaving dozens injured.
The attacker claimed that she had been set up, saying that a shady Ukrainian handler who would be sending her money and instructions for months had tricked her into believing that the bust was only wearing a listening device.
Darya Trepova, 27, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for a terrorism conviction stemming from a bomb attack that killed a pro-Putin war blogger. REUTERS
“I feel great pain and shame that my gullibility and naivety have had such catastrophic consequences. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” she told the court earlier this week, claiming she could have been killed too.
“I feel special pain and shame because a terrorist act was committed by my own hands.”
Prosecutors maintained that she knew about the bomb and “acted deliberately with the aim of destabilizing the Russian Federation and discrediting the special military operation,” the official name of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Trepova presented Vladlen Tatarsky with a bust of himself containing a bomb during a public talk in a St. Petersburg cafe in April 2023. The video captured the moments before the bombing, showing Tatarsky examining the gift Trepova brought him . In the images, Trepova, on the left, is seen sitting a few meters from Tatarsky. She covers her face when the bomb explodes.
Russia quickly blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies for orchestrating the death of Tatarsky, who was among the war’s most enthusiastic supporters.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the bombing was “planned by Ukrainian special services” and described Trepova as an “active supporter” of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
After the bomb went off, Trepova said she panicked. Instead of heading directly to the airport to catch a flight, as instructed by her Ukrainian manager, she called her husband, who asked a friend to let her spend the night at her apartment.
The powerful explosion killed Tatarsky instantly and injured 52 other people. ICRF Press Service / Handout / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock Tatarsky said he was acting on the orders of a Ukrainian whom he only knew as “Gestalt.” REUTERS
Trepova was arrested the next day and confessed to having taken the bust to Tatarsky.
Dmitry Kasintsev, 27, the friend who briefly sheltered Trepova, was sentenced Thursday to one year and nine months for his role in the ordeal, despite testimony that he had nothing to do with the bombing.
With post cables
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn