The arrest of Darya Trepova for the murder of the Russian pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky has prompted inquiries into the young woman’s history and politics.
According to Russian media reports, Ms. Trepova, 26, gave Tatarsky a statuette thought to contain the explosives that caused his death and the injuries of more than 30 persons.
Later, in a video published by the Russian Ministry of the Interior, she admits she brought the statue to the cafe where the explosion occurred.
Nonetheless, it seems possible that her confession was made under duress, and she does not indicate if she was aware of the explosives.
The suspect is a supporter of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), run by the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, according to Russian officials. The killing is now being classified as a terrorist attack.
Yet, according to her friends and relatives, while she was an anti-war activist – she was reportedly imprisoned at a protest at the start of the war – her views were not extreme and she was not capable of murder.
Dmitry Rylov, her spouse, says she may have been tricked.
Thus, what is known about Darya Trepova?
A friend informed the BBC that she attended school in Pushkin, outside of St. Petersburg, and that she “didn’t appear to have any political ideas at the time.”
According to several accounts, she later registered at St. Petersburg State University, albeit it is unclear at which faculty, and it is assumed she did not complete her study.
According to a second friend, she worked for many years at a vintage clothing store in the city before quitting her job and moving to Moscow a month ago.
It is unclear how long she and Mr. Rylov have been married.
In an interview with the Agentstvo telegram channel, Ms. Trepova’s friends stated that their marriage was a “joke” and that they were merely friends.
Yet, according to some stories, the pair was arrested during an anti-war march on February 24, 2014, at the outset of the invasion of Ukraine.
Ms. Trepova was supposedly held for 10 days for disregarding police efforts to disperse the crowd.
Mr. Rylov is claimed to be a member of the Libertarian Party, a tiny opposition group that participated in the protests. According to the party, he emigrated.
In addition, it informed the Telegram channel SOTA that Ms. Trepova had no affiliation with the party and denounced Tatarsky’s murder.
According to certain sources, Mr. Rylov is also wanted in connection with the murder.
He told SVTV News that she could not have committed murder voluntarily.
He stated,
“I believe my wife was duped.”
“Well, neither of us indeed supports the war in Ukraine, but we consider such actions to be unacceptable.
If she had known about this, I am certain she would have never agreed to it.
According to reports, Russian police have not ruled out the idea that Ms. Trepova was unaware of the statuette’s contents.
In addition, Russian media said that the young woman had corresponded with Tatarsky, the cafe explosion victim, and had attended previous events in which he was involved.
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