A Russian woman suspected of killing a Kremlin propagandist in a cafe bombing in St. Petersburg, must be detained for two months pending investigation, a Moscow court ruled on Tuesday.
Daria Trepova was charged with terrorism offenses over the explosion that killed Vladlen Tatarsky. She was dragged before a Russian court today for a hearing where she was paraded in a glass cage where photographers rushed to take pictures of her.
The court ordered that she remain in custody until June 2. She faces up to 20 years in prison for passing a bomb hidden in a figurine to Tatarsky, who saw it blown to pieces.
The Kremlin propagandist at a political event at Street Food No. 1 when the bomb exploded next to him, killing him and injuring 32 others.
Trepova, who is charged with committing an act of terrorism by an organized group intentionally causing death, was previously filmed by police as she was arrested before being released under armed guard from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
Daria Trepova (pictured in court) has been charged with terrorism over the explosion that killed Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky
Trepova (26) was held in a glass cage during her court hearing in Moscow this afternoon
The anti-war Russian attracted a lot of attention when she entered the Basmanny District Court with her hood up
Russian police guard the glass cage in which Trepova is being held as photographers are seen trying to take pictures in the reflection
Russian authorities described the bombing as an act of terrorism and accused Ukrainian intelligence agencies of orchestrating it.
Police arrested Trepova, who was caught on video giving Tatarsky a figurine believed to contain explosives just before the explosion.
The Russian Interior Ministry released a video in which Trepova tells a police officer that she brought the arrest to the cafe. When asked who gave it to her, she said she would explain later. The circumstances under which Trepova spoke were unclear, including whether she was under duress.
The Kremlin’s National Counter-Terrorism Committee, which coordinates counter-terrorist operations, claimed the bombing was “planned by Ukrainian special services.” They offered no evidence to support this claim.
The commission added that Trepova was an “active supporter” of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Last year, she was arrested and held for 10 days after attending an anti-war rally.
Ukrainian authorities did not respond directly to Russia’s claims, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the attack that he was not thinking about what was happening in Russia, and his top adviser said the bombing was part of Russia’s internal unrest.
While Trepova in St. Petersburg, her case was sent to Moscow, home of the country’s main investigative agencies, demonstrating her high priority.
In a closed hearing, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ordered Trepova held in pretrial detention until June 2. Russian law provides life imprisonment for terrorist crimes, but women are not sentenced to life imprisonment, but to 20 years in prison.
Investigators charged Trepova (left) with terrorism over the bomb that killed Tatarsky (right).
Video footage shows the handcuffed bomb suspect being escorted through Moscow airport
“Default Killer” Trepova (pictured) has been told she faces up to 20 years in prison after being charged today
According to Russian media reports, Trepova told investigators she was told to hand over the bust but did not know what was inside.
The bombing injured 40 other people, 25 of whom were hospitalized. It was Russia’s latest attack on a high-profile pro-war figure. Last year, a nationalist television commentator was killed when a bomb exploded in her SUV outside Moscow.
Tatarsky was the pseudonym of Maxim Fomin, who gathered more than 560,000 followers on his messaging channel Telegram. Tatarsky, who joined separatists in eastern Ukraine after a Moscow-backed insurgency erupted there in 2014, spent years fighting on the front lines before turning to blogging.
Military bloggers have become increasingly visible in Russia, supporting the war but sometimes exposing flaws in military strategy, while the Kremlin has shut down independent media and silenced any criticism of the war.
It comes after Trepova was filmed on Monday with her hands chained to a radiator when she was questioned by Russian investigators yesterday.
Speaking for the first time since the bomb, she admitted carrying the explosive-laden statue but maintained her innocence, claiming she was “locked in” and did not know what was inside the bust.
The head of Wagner’s private army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, visited the bombed cafe he owns earlier this morning, where he was filmed addressing a group of people.
He gave the cafe to a patriotic group for meetings.
According to Russian media reports, police used surveillance cameras to track down Trepova, although she reportedly cut her long blonde hair short to change her appearance and rented a different apartment in an apparent attempt to escape.
In the interrogation video, Trepova said she understood why she was being detained.
When asked why, she said, “Because … I would put it that way, because I was at the scene of Vladlen Tatarsky’s murder.”
“I took the figure there that exploded,” Trepova said. When asked who gave her the figurine, she replied that she would say “later”.
The head of Wagner’s private army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, visited the bombed cafe he owns earlier this morning
Spectacular video shows Trepova, a St Petersburg resident previously jailed for taking part in anti-war rallies, walk into the cafe carrying a box containing a possible figure containing 450g of TNT – just minutes before it explodes has.
Russia’s Interior Ministry placed Trepova on Russia’s most wanted list on suspicion of murdering Tatarsky after she fled the scene – but she was arrested within hours of the warrant being published.
Trepova’s partner Dmitri Rylov – also in his 20s and a member of the so-called Russian Liberation Army – claimed she was also “captured”.
Wagner boss Prigozhin previously said he did not believe Ukrainian troops were behind the attack.
“It is indeed similar to the murder of Darya Dugina [daughter of a Putin ideologue who was killed aged 29 last year in a car explosion],’ he said.
“I will not blame the Kiev regime for this.
“I think it was a group [Ukrainian] Right-wing extremists who did it, who are probably not connected to the government.”
A photo shows Daria Trepova when she was placed on the Russian wanted list published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. She has since been arrested and charged
Tatarsky was killed in an explosion at Street Food No. 1 in the center of Saint Petersburg
It comes after millionaire leader Wagner claimed Russia had taken control of Bakhmut – an eastern town that Moscow had been trying to seize for months.
He spoke to the camera while holding up a Russian flag engraved with Tatarsky’s name in his honor.
Russian investigators also said they had identified a second female suspect, Maria Yaran, 40, as being involved in the blast. She is believed to be in a hospital in Saint Petersburg after the bombing.
Source link
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
