After murder of war blogger: accused admits partial guilt
Show trial or genuine search for the truth? A young Russian woman is one of the accused in the case of an assassination attempt on a Russian war blogger. She admits partial guilt, but claims to have known nothing about the plan. Moscow senses that those behind the attack are elsewhere anyway.
According to media reports, a 26-year-old woman has pleaded partially guilty in the trial surrounding the fatal bomb attack on a well-known Russian military blogger. Darya Trepova appeared before a military court in St. Petersburg at the start of the trial. According to the state news agency Tass, Trepova, who was in a glass box during the court hearing, admitted partial guilt for the attack on blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
The public prosecutor's office accuses the young woman of having handed Tatarski a statue prepared with an explosive device at an event in a café in St. Petersburg in April. The object exploded minutes later. Tatarski was killed by the explosion and more than 30 people were injured.
Trepowa admitted after her arrest that she had handed over the statue. However, she also stated at the time that she did not know that it contained a bomb. She has now repeated this statement in court. According to Tass, her acquaintance Dmitri Kasinzew, who is also on trial, also admitted complicity in the attack.
Relatives demand punishment in any case
"Whether she knew she was carrying a bomb or not is irrelevant. She killed someone and injured others," said Maria Korolyova, a relative of one of the victims. Trepova must be "severely punished", she demanded.
Tatarski, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was one of Russia's most popular pro-government military bloggers, whose influence has grown since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. As their supporters, they often have sources in the military and frequently publish information before the Russian government does. In some cases, they also criticize Russia's military strategy, which has earned them a large following.
The attack on Tatarski caused a great stir in Russia, particularly among the strongest supporters of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. Moscow accused Kiev and "agents" of the imprisoned opposition figure Alexei Navalny of being involved in the attack. Ukraine, on the other hand, stated that the attack was an internal settling of accounts by Russian nationalist circles.
Since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of being behind attacks on Russian soil, including the attack on Daria Dugina, the daughter of Russian ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin. She was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow in August.
Source: www.ntv.de
