Daria Trepova, who was arrested on suspicion of liquidating Vladlen Tatarsky, stated during questioning that she was allegedly offered a job as an editor at one of the Ukrainian media resources, but in order to do so, she had to undergo an internship and complete a task – handing over a statuette filled with explosive material to a “war correspondent.” Daria insists that she knew nothing about the explosive device in the bust.
The girl explained that she allegedly met a person on one of the Ukrainian Telegram channels who called himself an activist. Trepova told him about her detentions at anti-war rallies, after which the conversation turned to an offer from the stranger to move to Kyiv, where Daria could get a job at one of the media resources. However, she needed to complete an internship first.
During the first task, she had to go to the “Listya” store and meet with the propagandist Tatarsky. Through a taxi driver, the girl allegedly received a “secret thing.” The taxi driver himself did not know what exactly he was passing on to Daria.
Then Trepova was given a new task – to meet Tatarsky at the University Embankment.
She was instructed about a package, but not entirely – apparently, she was told to deliver a bust and find something related to the heroes of the Wagner PMC, and then they would take it from there. As compensation, she was given an airline ticket for an evening flight on April 3 from Pulkovo to Uzbekistan, with a promise that she would be safely transported to Ukraine from Asia.
At the interrogation, Daria repeatedly stated that she didn’t know that the statue intended for Tatarsky was stuffed with explosives. However, according to her words, she suspected that something bad might happen. This is also evidenced by the fact that after receiving the statue, Trepova did not leave the room and was in close proximity to the package with the bust, where the explosive device was embedded. The girl is confident that she was framed.
In the first hours, the girl was convinced that she had killed many people.
Her head was spinning, the plan to escape through the airport fell apart, and she began to make chaotic movements: she walked around Vasilyevsky Island, called a taxi, and arrived at the “Northern Valley” residential complex where her acquaintance’s husband lives. She waited for a resolution – and got it in the morning of April 3,” according to the interrogation materials.
Also, Daria’s testimony allegedly pushed the investigation to reclassify the criminal case as “terrorism”.
It is known that a Tatarsky died as a result of an explosion of a figurine, which was handed to him by one of the visitors of the event shortly before the incident. Russian media also reported that the cafe where Tatarsky died had previously belonged to the owner of the PMC “Wagner”, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
After the incident, Russian propaganda began actively promoting narratives that suggest Ukrainian involvement in Tatar’s death, and that the Security Service of Ukraine or the Ministry of Defense’s Main Intelligence Directorate were allegedly involved in his murder.
On April 3, the owner of the Russian PMC “Wagner”, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stated that he would not blame Ukraine for the killing of the fighter Vladlen Tatarsky.
Meanwhile, on April 3, the accused in war crimes, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, awarded the deceased propagandist Tatarsky with the Order of Courage.