A 22 year old Darya Trepova a Russian national, has been jailed for 27 years for delivering a bomb to a pro-war blogger in a cafe in St Petersburg in 2020. The bomb exploded in the hands of the blogger, Igor Girkin, who was also known as Strelkov, a former separatist commander in eastern Ukraine. He survived the blast, but lost his right hand and eye. The explosion also killed a waitress and injured 13 other people.
Trepova confessed to the crime, saying that she was motivated by hatred for Girkin, who she blamed for the deaths of thousands of people in the Ukrainian conflict. She also said that she was influenced by online propaganda from a radical group called “Revenge of the Donbass”, which opposed Russia’s involvement in the war. The group claimed responsibility for the attack and praised Trepova as a hero.
The court found Trepova guilty of terrorism, murder, and illegal possession of explosives, and sentenced her to 27 years in prison. The sentence was the maximum possible under Russian law for a woman. Trepova’s lawyers said that they would appeal the verdict, arguing that she was mentally ill and acted under duress.
