Darya Yevgenyevna Trepova (; born 16 February 1997) is a Russian political activist and convicted terrorist from

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Biography

Early life

Trepova was born in

in 1997. She graduated for her secondary education at Lyceum No. 408 in

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...

. Her father died when she was finishing at the Lyceum.

Career

After graduating, Trepova went to the medical faculty of

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

. Trepova combined her studies at the university with a part-time job in

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...

, and as a freelance designer and working as an administrator in a vintage clothing store. Trepova became a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and attended Russian opposition events. In 2019, Trepova dropped out of the university of her own will.

Activism (2022–present)

During the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Trepova participated in

anti-war protests An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

. On 24 February 2022 at 20:05, Trepova was detained in front of house number 35 on

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is a main street ( high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevs ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and later arrested by the Krasnoselsky District Court of Saint Petersburg for 10 days. Later she moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where she rented an apartment near the Medvedkovo metro station, and then to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where she lived for six months. Due to financial difficulties, Trepova was forced to return to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The media paid attention to her October 2022

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

posts stating she "thinks about

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

from 20 to 150 times a day" "without a note of self-pity". The following month, Trepova deleted her Twitter account. On 9 March 2023, Trepova registered as an

sole proprietor A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by only one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. ...

. On 3 April 2023, Trepova was arrested and accused of a bombing committed less than 24 hours prior that led to the death of

Vladlen Tatarsky Maxim Yuryevich Fomin (25 April 1982 – 2 April 2023), better known as Vladlen Tatarsky, was a Ukrainian-born Russian military blogger, propagandist, convicted bank robber, and participant in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Tatarsky was active as a ...

and the injuring 52 others. On 25 January 2024, Trepova was then convicted by a military court in

of terrorism, handling explosives and using forged documents and sentenced to 27 years in prison, one of the harshest sentence given to a woman in Russia. She pleaded guilty only to the charge of document forgery. She said that she was following orders from contact in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

named "Gestalt", who assured her that the statuette contained only a wiretap and a tracker, not a bomb. Trepova said she had assumed that the reason for

eavesdropping Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information. Etymology The verb ''eavesdrop'' is a back-formation from the noun ''eave ...

on Tatarsky was to find out more of what he knew about the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, which she opposed. Her legal team said that they would appeal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trepova, Darya Living people 1997 births 21st-century Russian women Russian activists Bombers (people)