Current:Home > MarketsRussian woman goes on trial in a cafe bombing that killed a prominent military blogger-InfoLens
Russian woman goes on trial in a cafe bombing that killed a prominent military blogger
View Date:2024-12-23 14:59:25
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A woman went on trial Wednesday in the bombing at a St. Petersburg cafe that killed a prominent Russian military blogger after he was given a bust of himself that later exploded.
Darya Trepova, 26, is charged with carrying out a terrorist attack, illegal trafficking of explosive devices and forging documents in the April 2 blast at the cafe in which Vladlen Tatarsky was killed and 52 others were injured.
She was arrested shortly after the bombing and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, according to Russian news reports.
Tatarsky, 40, was an ardent supporter of the Kremlin’s military action in Ukraine and filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines.
Trepova was seen on video presenting Tatarsky with the bust moments before the blast at the riverside cafe in the historic heart of Russia’s second-largest city where he was leading a discussion.
Russian media have reported that Trepova told investigators she was asked to deliver the statuette but didn’t know what was inside it.
Trepova’s 27-year-old acquaintance, Dmitry Kasintsev, is standing trial with her, although he is under house arrest. She had stayed in his apartment after the blast, and the authorities have charged him with concealment of a grave crime.
Russian authorities have blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies for orchestrating the bombing. Authorities in Kyiv have not directly responded to the accusation, but an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the bombing as part of Russia’s internal turmoil.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, charged that a Ukrainian citizen whom it identified as Yuriy Denysov had gathered information about Tatarsky and supplied Trepova with explosives through a courier service. The FSB claimed that Denysov acted on orders from the Ukrainian security services.
Tatarsky was the pen name of Maxim Fomin, who had hundreds of thousand of followers on his Telegram messaging app channel. He had joined separatists in eastern Ukraine after a Moscow-backed insurgency erupted there in 2014 and fought on the front lines for years before turning to blogging.
Military bloggers have played an increasingly prominent role in Russia amid the fighting in Ukraine, supporting the Kremlin but often criticizing Russia’s military leadership and exposing various military flaws. Unlike independent media or opposition figures, they haven’t faced any crackdown for that criticism.
The FSB alleged Trepova was a supporter of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and that his top allies, Ivan Zhdanov and Leonid Volkov, have made repeated calls for subversive activities in Russia.
Zhdanov has alleged that authorities could try to use the explosion to extend Navalny’s prison term. The politician is currently serving 19 years in a penal colony east of Moscow after being convicted on extremism charges, which he alleges are false.
In a letter to the St. Petersburg news outlet Bumaga, Trepova claimed a journalist and a military blogger she knew asked her to attend Tatarsky’s speaking engagements as part of a journalistic investigation, and she had no idea it would lead to a deadly explosion. She didn’t identify that journalist in the letter.
“I didn’t know I would be presenting (Tatarsky) with something,” Bumaga quoted Trepova as saying. “Morally, of course, it is very hard. I still can’t believe in the reality of what had happened.”
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Man jailed after Tuskegee University shooting says he fired his gun, but denies shooting at anyone
- Christie ends his presidential bid in an effort to blunt Trump’s momentum before Iowa’s GOP caucuses
- DC to consider major new public safety bill to stem rising violent crime
- Kentucky is the all-time No. 1 team through 75 storied years of AP Top 25 college basketball polls
- Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn is ending her retirement at age 40 to make a skiing comeback
- Massachusetts House passes bill aimed at outlawing “revenge porn; Nearly all states have such bans
- If Pat McAfee is really Aaron Rodgers' friend, he'll drop him from his show
- Walmart says it will use AI to restock customers' fridges
- Record-setting dry conditions threaten more US wildfires, drinking water supplies
- ‘3 Body Problem’ to open SXSW, ‘The Fall Guy’ also to premiere at Austin festival
Ranking
- Deion Sanders addresses trash thrown at team during Colorado's big win at Texas Tech
- Germany approves the export of air-defense missiles to Saudi Arabia, underlining a softer approach
- Nick Saban coached in the NFL. His tenure with the Miami Dolphins did not go well.
- AEW star Adam Copeland revels in the 'joy' of war god Ares in Disney+'s 'Percy Jackson'
- The Best Corduroy Pants Deals from J.Crew Outlet, Old Navy, Levi’s & More, Starting at $26
- Tina Fey's 'Mean Girls' musical brings the tunes, but lacks spunk of Lindsay Lohan movie
- Man facing federal charges is charged with attempted murder in shooting that wounded Chicago officer
- Amalija Knavs, mother of former first lady Melania Trump, dies at 78
Recommendation
-
Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
-
Kaley Cuoco Says She Wanted to Strangle a Woman After Being Mom-Shamed
-
Biden administration to provide summer grocery money to 21 million kids. Here's who qualifies.
-
Natalia Grace's Adoptive Mom Cynthia Mans Speaks Out After Docuseries Revelation
-
Utah AD Mark Harlan fined $40,000 for ripping referees and the Big 12 after loss to BYU
-
Federal prosecutor in NY issues call for whistleblowers in bid to unearth corruption, other crimes
-
600,000 Ram trucks to be recalled under settlement in emissions cheating scandal
-
Bills fan killed outside Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium after last weekend's game, police say