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