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Darya Trepova: What we know about accused in Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky's killing Darya Trepova: What we know about the Russian cafe bomber
(about 2 months later)
Darya is said to have worked in a vintage clothes shop in St PetersburgDarya is said to have worked in a vintage clothes shop in St Petersburg
The detention of Darya Trepova for the murder of Russian pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky has raised questions about the young woman's background and politics. Darya Trepova will spend 27 years in a Russian jail as a terrorist for killing pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky with a concealed bomb in a cafe in St Petersburg.
Russia media reports say Ms Trepova, 26, handed Tatarsky a statuette which was believed to contain the explosives that killed him and injured more than 30 people. Later in a video released by the Russian Interior Ministry, she is seen admitting she brought the statuette to the cafe where the blast took place. It is one of the harshest sentences handed to a woman in Russia.
However, her statement was most likely obtained under duress, and she does not say whether she knew about the explosives. There is no doubt about the 26-year-old's anti-war views - she was reportedly detained at a protest early on - but friends and family have said she was not radical and not capable of murder.
Russian officials say the act of terror, as the killing is now being described, was planned and organised from the territory of Ukraine, and that the suspect is a supporter of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), headed by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. So what do we know about her?
But friends and family say that while she was an anti-war activist - she was reportedly detained at a protest at the start of the war - her views were not radical and she was not capable of murder.
Her husband Dmitry Rylov suggests she may have been duped.
So what do we know about Darya Trepova?
A picture from a social media profile of Darya Trepova
An acquaintance told the BBC that she went to school in the town of Pushkin outside St Petersburg, adding that she "didn't seem to have any political views then".An acquaintance told the BBC that she went to school in the town of Pushkin outside St Petersburg, adding that she "didn't seem to have any political views then".
Other sources say she later enrolled at St Petersburg state university, though it is not clear at what faculty, and she is not believed to have finished her course. Other sources say she later enrolled at St Petersburg state university's medical faculty, and she is not believed to have finished her course.
According to another friend, she worked for a long time at a vintage clothes shop in the city, but left her job a month ago to move to Moscow. A picture from a social media profile of Darya Trepova
It is not clear how long she has been married to Mr Rylov. According to another friend, she worked for a long time at a vintage clothes shop in the city, but left her job to move to Moscow, a month before the cafe blast.
In an interview for the Agentstvo telegram channel, friends of Ms Trepova said that their marriage was a "joke" and they were really just friends. The friend said she was a supporter of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny, and also described her as "easy to deceive".
But some reports say the pair were both arrested at an anti-war rally on 24 February last year, at the start of the invasion of Ukraine. "There were many situations where Dasha, because she was so trusting and open to people, ended up in various unpleasant situations," she told Mediazona website.
Ms Trepova was detained for 10 days, apparently for ignoring police requests for the crowd to disperse. On the cafe blast, Trepova told her trial she was following instructions from a man in Ukraine. She told the court she had been gullible and naive to believe him.
Russia releases tape of detained cafe bomb suspect Trepova is married to Dmitry Rylov, but friends have described their marriage as a sham and a "joke" and said they were really just friends.
Mr Rylov is said to be a member of a small fringe opposition group called the Libertarian Party, which was involved in the demonstrations. The party said he had emigrated. She told the Mediazona website herself that she found the idea of anniversaries "romantic" but did not want to live a "full married life".
It also told the Telegram channel SOTA that Ms Trepova had no connection to the party, and that it condemned Tatarsky's killing. The pair were both arrested at an anti-war rally on 24 February 2022, at the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Trepova was detained for 10 days, apparently for ignoring police requests for the crowd to disperse.
Watch: The moments leading up to St Petersburg cafe explosionWatch: The moments leading up to St Petersburg cafe explosion
Watch: The moments leading up to St Petersburg cafe explosionWatch: The moments leading up to St Petersburg cafe explosion
Some reports say Mr Rylov is also wanted in connection with the killing. Mr Rylov is said to be a member of a small fringe opposition group called the Libertarian Party, which was involved in the demonstrations.
He told SVTV News that she could not have willingly committed murder. "I believe that my wife was duped," he said. He is thought to have emigrated when the Russian government announced plans to mobilise men of military age.
"Yes, it's true that neither of us support the war in Ukraine, but we believe that such acts are impermissible. The party told the Telegram channel SOTA that Trepova had no connection to it, and that it condemned Tatarsky's killing.
"I'm 100% sure that she would never have agreed to anything like this if she had known about it." Mr Rylov is also said to be wanted in connection with Tatarsky's killing.
Reports say Russian investigators have not ruled out the possibility that Ms Trepova did not know what was in the statuette. Last week, he wrote a so-called "open letter" on Twitter, also known as X, in which he urged a Ukrainian journalist who Trepova has accused of being involved to come forward.
Also, Russian media said the young woman had been in correspondence with Tatarsky - the victim of the cafe blast - and had attended previous events he was involved in. "I ask you to tell me how it all happened ... Show screenshots of your correspondence," Mr Rylov said.
"I am almost the only person who is worried about Dasha's imprisonment and who wants her to be free," he went on.
He added that his wife was "the most dear person in the world to me", and he would fight for her to "be warm, not hungry, protected and one day free".
Darya Trepova's details were added to the interior ministry's wanted list hours before she was detainedDarya Trepova's details were added to the interior ministry's wanted list hours before she was detained
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War in UkraineWar in Ukraine
RussiaRussia
St PetersburgSt Petersburg