SAINT PETERSBURG: A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a woman to a record 27 years in prison for blowing up an anti-Ukraine military blogger in what prosecutors say was a brazen killing ordered by Kyiv.
Hardline military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky died when a miniature statue handed to him as a gift by Darya Trepova exploded in a Saint Petersburg cafe where he was giving a speech in April 2023.
A Saint Petersburg court found Trepova guilty of terrorism and other charges over the attack, sentencing her to an unprecedented almost three decades in a prison colony, the court service said in a statement posted on social media. It is the longest sentence Russia has handed to a woman since the collapse of the Soviet Union, state media and rights groups said. Trepova, 26, denied purposefully killing Tatarsky.
She said she was set-up by contacts in Ukraine and thought she was handing Tatarsky a secret listening device, not a bomb. She was arrested less than 24 hours after the blast.
Prosecutors say she knew the device had been rigged with explosives when she gave it to Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin.
In court for the verdict on Thursday, Trepova sat in a glass box for defendants, wearing a white turtleneck jumper featuring a pattern of large knitted oranges.
Tatarsky was an influential military blogger, one of the most prominent among a group of hardline correspondents that have gained a huge following since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine.
They publish exclusive information about the campaign from frontline sources and occasionally criticise Moscow’s military tactics, pushing for a more aggressive assault.
Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2024
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