A Russian court handed a 27-year prison sentence to Daria Trepova, after she was found guilty of assassinating pro-war blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky.
She was charged under three articles of the Russian Criminal Code, including terrorism, illegal trafficking of explosives and using a forged document.
“The court sentenced Trepova to 27 years’ imprisonment in a general regime penal colony, with a fine of 600,000 rubles and two years’ restriction of liberty, which she will serve after serving the main sentence,” according to Nadezhda Tikhonova, State Prosecutor in Trepova Case.
Russian media reports say that Trepova’s sentence is the longest prison term for a woman in modern Russian history, with life imprisonment reserved exclusively for male convicts.
Meanwhile, Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, was a military blogger known for his fervent pro-war stance and occasional critique of Russian battlefield shortcomings.
He gained popularity on Telegram for supporting the mercenary group Wagner, the war in Ukraine, and advocating for a tougher stance.
Tatarsky created his channel in 2019, named after a character from Victor Pelevin’s novel, and had military experience in Eastern Ukraine in 2014.
On April 2, 2023, Trepova attended an event in a St. Petersburg Cafe where Tatarsky was speaking and presented him with a statuette that concealed explosives.
The statuette exploded, killing him and injuring 52 others.
The following day, Trepova was detained on suspicion of involvement in the explosion.
Trepova maintained her ignorance regarding the explosives inside the statuette, although she pleaded guilty to forging documents relating to the said act.
At a court hearing in April last year, Trepova said she deeply regretted what happened at the cafe, and that she had also survived the blast by accident.
Meanwhile, her spouse, Dmitry Rylov, insists that she was framed, as reported by an Independent Russian Publication.
Trepova’s lawyer Daniil Berman said that the court had ‘no grounds’ for such a sentence and noted that the defense plans to appeal it.
“The trial ended today with a result that is already known. I assume that we will, of course, appeal this verdict, as we consider it illegal, unjustified, so to speak, from all angles, as it is probably the most cruel verdict against a woman in Russia in the entire history of modern justice. In my opinion, there were no grounds for it, even if we hypothetically assume that Daria is guilty of what she is accused of,” according to Daniil Berman, Trepova’s Lawyer.
A second defendant, Dmitri Kasintsev who is believed to be Trepova’s accomplice, was sentenced to one year and nine months imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.
The Russian investigative committee is also investigating Ukrainian citizen Yury Denisov, journalist Roman Popkov currently believed to be living in Ukraine, and other persons of interest.
