Woman Goes on Trial for St. Petersburg Cafe Bombing

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – A woman is facing trial for her alleged involvement in the bombing at a St. Petersburg cafe, which resulted in the death of a prominent Russian military blogger. Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old, is charged with carrying out a terrorist attack, illegal trafficking of explosive devices, and forging documents in connection with the April 2 blast that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 52 others.

If convicted, Trepova could face a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison, according to reports from Russian news outlets.

The 40-year-old victim, Vladlen Tatarsky, was a fervent supporter of the Kremlin’s military operations in Ukraine and regularly reported from the front lines of the conflict. Moments before the explosion, Trepova was captured on video presenting him with a bust of himself at a riverside cafe in the heart of St. Petersburg, where he was leading a discussion.

Authorities have reported that Trepova claimed she had been asked to deliver the statuette but was unaware of its contents.

Dmitry Kasintsev, a 27-year-old acquaintance of Trepova, is also standing trial as an alleged accomplice, although he is currently under house arrest. Authorities have charged him with concealing a grave crime due to Trepova having stayed at his apartment after the bombing.

The Russian authorities have attributed the bombing to Ukrainian intelligence agencies. While officials in Kyiv have not directly responded to the accusations, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has referred to the incident as part of Russia’s internal turmoil.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), a Ukrainian citizen named Yuriy Denysov allegedly gathered information about Tatarsky and provided Trepova with explosives through a courier service. The FSB contends that Denysov acted on orders from the Ukrainian security services.

Vladlen Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had a substantial following on his Telegram messaging app channel. He had joined separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and fought on the front lines for several years before transitioning to blogging.

Military bloggers have gained significant prominence in Russia, particularly during the conflict in Ukraine. While they generally support the Kremlin’s stance, they often criticize Russia’s military leadership and expose various flaws within the armed forces. Unlike independent media or opposition figures, military bloggers have not faced any crackdown for their critical views.

The FSB has alleged that Trepova was a supporter of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and it further claimed that Navalny’s top allies, Ivan Zhdanov and Leonid Volkov, have repeatedly called for subversive activities within Russia.

Zhdanov has voiced concerns that authorities might exploit the explosion to extend Navalny’s prison term. The politician is currently serving a 19-year sentence in a penal colony east of Moscow after being convicted on charges of extremism, which he maintains are false.

In a letter to the St. Petersburg news outlet Bumaga, Trepova asserted that a journalist and a military blogger had asked her to attend Tatarsky’s speaking engagements as part of a journalistic investigation. She claimed to have had no knowledge that it would lead to a deadly explosion, but she did not disclose the name of the journalist in her letter.

The trial of Darya Trepova sheds light on the tragic bombing incident at a St. Petersburg cafe, which claimed the life of Vladlen Tatarsky. As the legal proceedings continue, the court will assess the evidence and determine the extent of Trepova’s involvement in the terrorist attack.