‘Statue assassin’ Daria Trepova is charged with terrorism and told she faces life in jai
A ‘statue killer’ charged with terrorist offenses after the blast that killed one of Vladimir Putin’s propagandists was dragged before a Russian court this afternoon and paraded in a glass cage.
Daria Trepova, 26, faces up to 20 years in prison for passing a bomb hidden in a figurine to hard-nosed war reporter Vladlen Tatarsky, also known as Maxim Fomin, at a St Petersburg cafe on Sunday.
Tatarsky, 40, a staunch supporter of Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, was speaking at a political event at Street Food Cafe No. 1 when the bomb exploded next to him, killing the propagandist and injuring 32 others in what the Kremlin claimed was a ‘terrorist attack’.
With her hood up, Trepova was escorted to court by Russian officers before bowing her head as she sat in a glass cage as reporters rushed to photograph her.
The anti-war activist, charged with committing “an act of terrorism by an organized group that intentionally caused death,” had previously been filmed being held by police before being escorted from St Petersburg to Moscow under armed guard .
Daria Trepova (pictured at court) has been charged with terrorism over the blast 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 woman attracted a lot of attention when she walked into Basmanny District Court with her hood up
Russian police guard the glass cage in which Trepova was held, while photographers can be seen trying to take pictures in the reflection
Investigators have charged Trepova (left) with terrorism over the bomb that killed Tatarsky (right)
It comes after Trepova was filmed yesterday with her hands chained to a radiator while being questioned by Russian investigators.
Speaking for the first time since the bomb, she admitted to carrying the statue loaded with explosives, but pleaded her innocence, claiming she had been “trapped” and did not know what was inside the bust.
The head of Wagner’s private army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, visited the bombed cafe – which he owns – earlier today, where he was filmed addressing a group of people.
He had turned the cafe over to a patriotic group for meetings.
According to Russian media reports, police tracked down Trepova using surveillance cameras, though she reportedly cut her long blonde hair short to change her appearance and rented another apartment in an apparent attempt to escape.
In the interrogation video, Trepova said she understood why she was being held.
When asked why, she said, “Because … I would put it this way, because I was at the scene of Vladlen Tatarsky’s murder.”
“I brought the figurine there that exploded,” Trepova said. When asked who gave her the figurine, she replied that she would say ‘later’.
Video footage showed the handcuffed bomb suspect being escorted through Moscow airport
‘Default killer’ Trepova (pictured) has been told she could face up to 20 years in prison after being charged today
But Russia’s anti-terrorism service claimed – without providing evidence – that Trepova carried out the attack with the help of “Ukrainian special services” and activists associated with imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
An aide to the Ukrainian president said the attack stemmed from an internal conflict in Russia.
A chilling video appeared to show Trepova, a St Petersburg resident previously detained for participating in anti-war rallies, walked into the café carrying a box containing a possible figurine containing 450g of TNT – just minutes before it exploded.
The Russian Interior Ministry placed Trepova on Russia’s wanted list on suspicion of murdering Tatarsky after she fled the scene – but she was arrested within hours of the warrant being released.
Head of Wagner’s private army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, visited the bombed cafe – which he owns – earlier today
Trepova’s partner, Dmitry Rylov – also in his twenties and a member of the so-called Russian Liberation Army – has maintained that she too was ‘trapped’.
Wagner chief Prigozhin has previously stated that he does 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 wouldn’t blame the Kiev regime for it.
“I think it was a group [Ukrainian] Right-wing radicals who did it, who are probably not associated with the government.”
An image shows Daria Trepova when she was placed on Russia’s wanted list, as published by the Interior Ministry. 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 that Russia had seized control of Bakhmut – a city in the east that Moscow had been trying to capture for months.
He spoke to the camera while holding aloft a Russian flag engraved with Tatarsky’s name in tribute.
Russian investigators also said they had identified a second female suspect, Maria Yaran, 40, as involved in the blast. She is reportedly in hospital in Saint Petersburg after the bombing.