St. Petersburg, January 19 – The prosecution has requested a 28-year prison sentence for Daria Trepova in connection with the terrorist attack at a café in St. Petersburg, where war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky was killed, according to a correspondent from the courtroom. The prosecution representative stated, “We propose a final punishment for Trepova in the form of 28 years of imprisonment.” Additionally, they requested a fine of 800,000 rubles for the defendant.
The explosion occurred on April 2, 2023, during a creative evening event hosted by war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky (real name Maxim Fomin) at a café on the University Embankment in St. Petersburg. The bomb was concealed within a statuette that Trepova had given to the journalist as a gift. Tatarsky died instantly from multiple injuries, while more than 50 others were injured. According to Chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, Trepova tried to convince investigators that she was unaware of the bomb and believed the statuette contained a tracking device. However, the investigation revealed that she was indeed aware of the content she was passing on to the correspondent. Trepova received 132,000 rubles for carrying out the terrorist attack.
During the trial, the accused stated that she had intended to move to Ukraine and had contacted journalist Roman Popkov for this purpose. According to the investigation, Popkov recruited Trepova and directed the preparations for the attack. Another accomplice identified by the Federal Security Service (FSB) is Ukrainian citizen Yuri Denisov, who delivered the rigged statuette to Trepova. Denisov and Popkov are currently wanted by authorities. Dmitry Kasintsev, who harbored Trepova after the explosion, is also being tried alongside her. Trepova was arrested on April 3 at his apartment in Parnas.
