# Darya Trepova: Russian woman jailed for 27 years for cafe bomb killing
Russian woman Darya Trepova has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for the killing of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky with a bomb in a statuette. Trepova has denied the charges, claiming she believed the statuette contained a listening device instead of a bomb. She stated that she acted on the orders of a Ukrainian contact and was framed.
The attack on Tatarsky took place on 2 April, 2023. Trepova was charged with “a terrorist act carried out by an organised group causing intentional death” and the “illegal possession of explosive devices by an organised group”. Russian investigators have accused Ukraine of being behind the attack, but Ukrainian officials have neither confirmed nor denied this.
Trepova testified in court that she was following orders from a man in Ukraine known as Gestalt, whose identity is unknown. She said she made contact with him through Ukraine-based journalist Roman Popkov and expressed her opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trepova claimed that she was sent the statuette by Gestalt, who assured her that it contained a wiretap and a tracker. She expressed concern that it might contain a bomb and said that she did not intend to harm anyone.
Vladlen Tatarsky, a well-known blogger with a criminal past, had more than half a million followers and was critical of the Russian military and President Vladimir Putin. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage by Mr Putin.
Trepova’s sentencing comes shortly after Igor Girkin, the former commander of Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, was sentenced to four years in prison for “calls to carry out extremist activities”.
