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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Fahey

St Petersburg bomber seen languishing in jail after blast killed Russian blogger

The woman thought responsible for a bomb blast in St Petersburg earlier this month has had her appeal rejected by a Russian court.

Darya Trepova, 26, appeared via video link from a detention centre for an appeal against her arrest on charges of involvement in the April 2 bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 50 others at a cafe in St .Petersburg.

Moscow City Court upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Trepova to remain in custody for two months pending investigation.

She is accused of orchestrating a terrorist attack that caused the death of military blogger Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin.

A few days after the assassination, she was caught on CCTV smiling while entering an apartment block.

At the time, her hubby claimed she was being framed by the Russian state after the killing of one of the country's most well-known military commentators, who also had a strong social media following.

Another 30 people were wounded in the blast, Russia's health ministry said.

Suspect Daria Trepova, 26 (Social media/e2w)
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs shows Darya Trepova (RUSSIAN INTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Trepova is accused of carrying a small hollowed-out statue containing a bomb into a café where the Kremlin propagandist was holding a meeting.

Trepova is, according to Russian counter-terror officials, an "active supporter" of the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation - Putin's opposition.

She has been videoed by the Federal Security Service (FSB) giving a partial confession.

In the footage, an FSB officer asks her if she understands why she had been arrested.

Vladlen Tatarsky died in the blast (Sky news)

She says: “I would say, for being at the spot of the killing of Vladlen Tatarsky.”

The officer then asks her what she did. “I brought the figurine that exploded there,” she replies.

However, her husband, Dmitry Rylov, said she had been framed.

“I am completely sure that she would never have been able to do something like this on her own," Mr Rylov told journalists in Uzbekistan, where he is living in exile.

Trepova is accused of carrying a small hollowed-out statue containing a bomb (Social media/e2w)
She has been arrested and held over the death of the 40-year-old pro-war blogger (Social media/e2w)

Rylov is a member of the fringe opposition group, Libertarian Party of Russia and also said: "Together with Daria, we really do not support the war in Ukraine, but we believe that such actions are unacceptable.

"I am 100% sure that she would never have agreed to this if she had known."

The newly released footage shows her entering an apartment building in St Petersburg while carrying a bag over her shoulder and pulling a large suitcase.

A police officer stands guard at the scene of the explosion (ANATOLY MALTSEV/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Inside the lift, she and an unknown man are seen talking and smiling at one another before the footage then cuts to scenes of her being arrested and escorted.

Trepova apparently told the Russian investigators she would tell them who gave her the explosive-laded statuette at a "later date."

ussia's top counterterrorism agency had unfounded claims that she carried out the attack with the help of Ukrainian special services and activists who are linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Russian media reported that Ms Trepova's mother and sister were also interrogated by the security forces and that the Kremlin had asked the Uzbek authorities to arrest her husband.

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