A Russian woman who blew up a pro-war blogger in a St Petersburg cafe has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Darya Trepova, 26, was convicted on Thursday of multiple charges including terrorism over the death of Vladlen Tatarsky, a pro-Russian blogger.
He was killed in April 2023 by a bomb concealed in a statuette bearing his likeness which Ms Trepova handed to him as he gave a talk at the cafe.
Ms Trepova said she had been set up by a man in Ukraine who had been sending her money and instructions online for several months, who told her the statuette contained a listening device.
“I feel great pain and shame that my gullibility and my naivety led to such catastrophic consequences,” she told the court earlier this week. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
The prosecution dismissed her defence and argued that she had “acted deliberately with the aim of destabilising the Russian Federation and discrediting the special military operation”.
Dmitry Kasintsev, a friend of Ms Trepova’s husband, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on Thursday for letting Ms Trepova stay at his apartment on the night of the explosion. She was arrested there the next day.
Mr Tatarsky was one of a group of prominent bloggers who have built up large online audiences as cheerleaders for Russia’s war in Ukraine, while occasionally criticising its tactics.
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Kenneth Eugene Smith is slated to become the first person in the world put to death with nitrogen gas after the US Supreme Court and a federal appeals court both refused to stop his execution on Thursday.
The US Supreme Court declined his stay of execution on Wednesday afternoon, while news of the federal ruling came around 7pm. Smith is scheduled to be put to death around 6pm on Thursday at William C Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
“Smith has failed to show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of his claims,” the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Smith’s attorneys asked the court to block the execution because of the risks associated with the untested method, which has been publicly questioned by the UN and veterinarians.
This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith
(Alabama Department of Corrections)
“Smith may not be constitutionally guaranteed a painless death, but I have concerns that these circumstances may rise to a cruel and unusual execution,” Judge Charles R Wilson wrote in the majority opinion.
Earlier this month, US District Judge Austin Huffaker declined to block Smith’s execution and his attorneys appealed the decision. On Thursday, the appeals court affirmed his ruling.
Judge Jill A Pryor wrote the only dissenting opinion. The cost of using the method, she wrote, “will be Mr Smith’s human dignity, and ours.”
Referring to the previous ruling from Judge Huffaker, she added, “I part with the majority opinion because I believe the district court clearly erred in its factual findings regarding the substantial risk part of the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment test.”
One of the main concerns Smith, 58, has raised regarding the execution method is the likelihood that he’ll suffocate on his own vomit. Vomiting is a known side effect of oxygen deprivation and the prisoner has said that he frequently suffers from nausea due to his post-traumatic stress disorder condition.
Smith said he sustained the condition after his botched execution attempt in 2022 during which officials were unable to insert intravenous lines into his system for four hours to administer lethal drugs.
When deciding the logistics of a second execution attempt, Smith voiced his preference for nitrogen gas but has expressed concerns about the state’s process for using the method. According to the state’s heavily redacted protocol, prisoners are to be fitted with a mask and breathing tube to control gas, slowly depriving them of oxygen.
If not done correctly, Smith could experience suffocation or be left in a vegetative state.
Judge Huffaker said Smith would only suffer from additional pain in a series of unlikely circumstances. Judge Pryor disagreed, citing how officials with the Alabama Department of Corrections said they would not intervene if Smith were to start retching.
“When a person inhales vomit and asphyxiates, he experiences ‘painful physical sensations of choking and suffocation,’” she wrote. “As I see it, this cascade of likely events is, in turn, likely to prolong or superadd pain and suffering to Mr Smith’s death.”
Robert Grass, an attorney representing Smith, said he intends to appeal the latest federal court decision to the Supreme Court.
In the petition filed earlier this month, Mr Grass asked the court whether officials have the right to execute him a second time and whether a second execution attempt would constitute “cruel and unusual punishments” under the Eighth and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution.
The Supreme Court did not include additional comments in their rejection and there were no public dissenting opinions. In response to the request, the state called the untested method “perhaps the most humane method of execution ever devised.”
If a second appeal is unsuccessful, Smith could become the first person to be executed with any type of gas since 1999, per the Death Penalty Information Center.
Smith was convicted of murdering Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, a pastor’s wife, in 1988 in a murder-for-hire scheme in Colbert County. He was part of a two-person team paid $1,000 each to commit the crime. Upon entering the woman’s home, officials discovered she’d been stabbed 10 times.
In 1996, A jury voted 11 to 1 to sentence Smith to life in prison, but the judge presiding over the judge overrode the verdict in favour of the death penalty. The state recently barred the practice of judicial override for capital punishment but the law does not apply retroactively.
Alabama approved nitrogen gas for executions in 2018.
The Independent and the non-profit Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) have launched a joint campaign calling for an end to the death penalty in the US. The RBIJ has attracted more than 150 well-known signatories to its Business Leaders Declaration Against the Death Penalty – with The Independent as the latest on the list. We join high-profile executives such as Ariana Huffington, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson as part of this initiative and are making a pledge to highlight the injustices of the death penalty in our coverage.
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By Laura Gozzi & Paul Kirby
BBC News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of "playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners", after a deadly plane crash in western Russia.
He demanded an international inquiry after Wednesday's crash in the Belgorod region near Ukraine's border.
Russia said there were no survivors after Kyiv had downed the Il-76 plane with 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six Russian crew and three escorts.
Moscow claimed the Ukrainians were being flown for a prisoner exchange.
Ukraine's military intelligence (GUR) said it had not been told to ensure safe airspace, as on previous occasions.
The GUR comments have been seen as a tacit acknowledgement that Ukraine shot the military transport plane down, although it stressed it had no reliable information about who was on board and warned the incident may have involved "planned and deliberate actions by Russia".
In his video address late on Wednesday, President Zelensky said it was "obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society".
The Ukrainian leader, who has cancelled a planned regional trip linked to his birthday on Thursday, stressed that "all clear facts must be established".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the downing of the plane as a "monstrous act", according to Russian news agencies. He told reporters that if Mr Zelensky meant an international inquiry into "the criminal actions of the Kyiv regime", it was definitely needed.
Video shared on social media showed a plane going down followed by an explosion and a fireball near the village of Yablonovo, 70km (44 miles) to the north-east of the city of Belgorod, at about 11:00 local time (08:00 GMT).
Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the plane crashed in a field near a residential area and that everyone on board had died.
Ukraine's general staff, quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda website, said initially that the plane was transporting missiles for Russia's S-300 air defence systems. It made no mention of PoWs.
None of the details surrounding those on board can be independently verified, but Ukraine's military intelligence said it was Russia's responsibility "to ensure the safety of our defenders under the agreements that had been reached".
On this occasion it said it had not been informed that the airspace had to be safeguarded "at the defined time, which is something that had happened on numerous occasions before".
"This can point to Russia's deliberate actions aimed at putting the lives and safety of the PoWs under threat," it added.
Ukraine and Russia have taken part in a number of prisoner swaps since the start of the war.
Ukrainian air force chief Mykola Oleschuk warned that throughout Wednesday Russian propaganda had tried to discredit Ukraine internationally. Ukraine had the right to destroy Russia's means of aerial attacks, he said.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's second city Kharkiv with S-300 guided missiles from the Belgorod region in recent days.
Eight people were killed in a series of missiles strikes on Tuesday and another attack was launched overnight into Thursday.
Ahead of Wednesday's planned prisoner exchange, Ukrainian officials said the captured Russian military servicemen were "delivered to the agreed location in time to be exchanged, and they were safe there".
Russia's defence ministry said the swap had been due to take place on Wednesday afternoon at a border checkpoint 100km (60 miles) to the west of Belgorod.
The ministry said a military transport plane had taken off from Chkalovsky air base north-east of Moscow en route to Belgorod, alleging that Ukraine's air force had fired two anti-aircraft missiles from the Lyptsi area south of the Ukrainian border.
The Ukrainian government body in charge of PoWs warned that Russia was "actively carrying out special information operations against Ukraine, which are aimed at destabilising Ukrainian society".
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliamentary human rights commissioner, appealed to Ukrainians to trust only official sources: "Do not be fooled by provocations. More detailed information will be provided later."
Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of Russia's parliamentary defence committee, claimed there had been a second plane in the air transporting 80 Ukrainian prisoners, although that plane had then changed course.
"There can now be no talk of any other [prisoner] exchanges," Mr Kartapolov told Russian TV.
The biggest prisoner exchange since the start of the war took place earlier this month, when Ukraine freed 248 Russian prisoners of war and Russia released 230 people in a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
More than 8,000 Ukrainians, both civilian and military, are still being held by Russia, according to Ukraine's Coordination HQ on the Treatment of PoWs, which says tens of thousands of others are still missing.
Belgorod, which is located approximately 25 miles (40km) north of the border with Ukraine, has suffered dozens of casualties from air strikes and drones since the war in Ukraine began.
Russia's war in Ukraine is grinding on as it approaches its third year.
Last week, Russia claimed to have captured a village close to the devastated city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Kyiv has not confirmed the claim.
Moment Russian plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war appears to crash
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President Zelensky has cancelled his birthday plans which included a regional trip and events after the plane crash this morning which killed ‘everyone on board’, says Ukrainian media.
RBK, the news outlet, quoted a source in the president’s office and in regional administrations, but gave no further details.
All those aboard the Russian military plane that crashed in a town bordering Ukraine this morning were killed, a local governor reported, as the Kremlin insists that dozens of the passengers were Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoWs).
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, confirmed that a transport plane, understood to be an Il-76 military aircraft, crashed roughly 40 miles from the administrative capital. “Everyone on board died,” he said.
Zelensky has not yet commented on the incident involving a Russian Il-76 military transport. Russian officials said the plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war due to take part in a swap.
Earlier, Kremlin state news agency RIA quoted the Russian defence ministry as claiming the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), alongside six crew members and three other people, when it crashed around 11am local time (8am GMT).
What we know about the plane crash so far: Who was on the plane?
Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of shooting down a military transport plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange.
Ukraine‘s military General Staff, without saying whether it downed the plane or not, said in a statement it would continue to destroy Russian military aircraft which it believed were carrying missiles with which to strike Ukraine.
Here’s a summary of what we know so far.
What was the plane?
The aircraft was an Ilyushin Il-76, a large military transport plane designed to carry troops, cargo or weapons. Russia said that beside the 65 Ukrainian POWs there were six Russian crew members and three Russian soldiers on board.
The plane crashed in a huge fireball, killing all 74 people on board, the Russian defence ministry said.
In this handout photo taken from validated UGC video show flames rising from the scene of a warplane crashed at a residential area near Yablonovo, Belgorod region
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has cancelled a regional trip and events linked to his birthday pending clarification of the crash of a Russian aircraft over the border in Belgorod region, the RBK Ukraine news outlet reported on Wednesday.
RBK quoted a source in the president’s office and in regional administrations, but gave no further details.
Zelensky has not yet commented on the incident involving a Russian Il-76 military transport. Russian officials said the plane was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war due to take part in a swap.
A drone attack on Ukraine‘s Black Sea port of Odesa on Wednesday injured one person and started a fire, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.
Kiper, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the attack had damaged housing in the city. There were no further details on the extent of the damage.
The governor subsequently declared an end to the air raid alert for Odesa region.
Two dead in Russian attack on town near Ukraine front line-officials
A mid-afternoon Russian missile strike on a town near the front line in Ukraine killed two people, injured eight and caused widespread damage, Ukrainian officials said.
The governor of Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said on Telegram that the missile hit a dwelling in the town of Hirnyk. Pictures posted online showed several buildings reduced to rubble.
Filashkin said apartment blocks and more than 40 private homes were damaged and he urged residents to evacuate to more secure areas. Ukraine‘s Emergency Services said one body was recovered from under rubble.
Hirnyk lies to the northwest of Maryinka, a town still held by Ukraine but all but destroyed after many months of fighting with Russian forces.
Two years of war in Ukraine: Sign up to our exclusive expert panel event with Bel Trew
To mark the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine breaking out, The Independent is bringing together a panel of experts who have been at the forefront of the coverage of the conflict.
Two years have passed since Russia invaded its European neighbour and the war has left Ukraine and its people in a state of utter devastation.
Our panel will be looking back at some of the key moments from the past two years, as well as looking ahead to what is likely to happen next and if any future resolution is in sight.
Bel Trew, The Independent’s award-winning chief international correspondent, photographer and documentary filmmaker, will be hosting the discussion, which is part of The Independent’s Virtual Events series.
Across multiple trips since the start of Russia’s invasion, Bel has been charting the devastating impact of the war on people all over Ukraine.
US Senate panel steps toward seizing Russian assets to help Ukraine
A US Senate committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the nearly two-year-long war.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 20 to 1 in favor of the unprecedented “Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act.”
If it were to pass the full Senate and House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Joe Biden, the act would pave the way for Washington’s first-ever seizure of central bank assets from a country with which it is not at war.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is set to hold a news conference at the United Nations in the next few minutes.
This comes after a military transport plane crashed in the Belgorod region of Russia, with Moscow saying 65 prisoners of war and nine others on board were killed, and accusing Ukraine of shooting it down.
He was scheduled to speak this afternoon anyway, but if he takes questions, it is likely discussion will turn to the crash.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is set to hold a news conference at the United Nations
(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Russian claims PoWs downed is ‘disinformation’ former intelligence officer says
Russian claims that 56 Ukrainian prisoners of war were onboard a military plane that crashed over Russian airspace is likely disinformation, a former intelligence officer said.
Philip Ingram, former British Army intelligence officer, told The Independent: “It is likely disinformation. I would expect the Russians to claim Ukrainian prisoners were on the downed aircraft to try and get something out of what is a very embarrassing incident.
“Russia has lost control of the skies not just in the areas it occupies in Ukraine, but it seems over large parts of Russia as well.”
Russian-friendly Slovakian PM U-turns on Ukraine support
Slovakia’s Russia-friendly prime minister has made an unexpected U-turn on Ukraine, pledging support on his first trip to the war-torn country only days after questioning Ukrainian sovereignty.
Robert Fico, who came to office in October after campaigning to sever his nation’s military aid to Kyiv and oppose further sanctions against Russia, on Wednesday met his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in the city of Uzhhorod, near the Slovak border.
Mr Fico claimed there were only “minor” political differences with Kyiv, which were part of “political life”, adding: “We really want to assist you, we really want to help you.”
Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico has U-turned on his support for Ukraine
(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Donald Trump cemented his status as the frontrunner in the Republican presidential race as he comfortably won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
The former president won 54 per cent of the vote in the state, with his only remaining rival Nikki Haley coming second with 43 per cent.
Having finished third in Iowa and second in New Hampshire, Ms Haley’s position is precarious. But she told supporters she is still in the fight – at least until South Carolina.
“This race is far from over,” she insisted. “South Carolina voters don’t want a coronation, they want an election. And we’re going to give them one.”
No Republican who won both Iowa and New Hampshire has ever lost the nomination battle. That historical data point is gold for Trump, now widely seen as the party’s presumptive flag-bearer heading into November.
Mr Trump’s former chief of staff said he had pulled off a remarkable comeback by winning both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
“If you asked me a year ago, I thought there was no chance he could win,” Mick Mulvaney told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
“January 6 was looming very large at the time. I thought his ceiling in the Republican party was 35 per cent and clearly its closer to something between 50 and 60.”
Mr Trump has a clear lead in the national polls. He has already seen off Ron DeSantis, who in January last year was polling less than 10 points behind him but pulled out of the race on Sunday after his campaign flatlined.
Mr Mulvaney added: “He managed to take this barrage of criminal investigations and turn them masterfully to his advantage, to make it look like the Biden administration was out to get their political opponents, and he has had a message which is very compelling.”
The race now turns to Nevada, where Trump is already claiming an all-but-certain victory, and next month to Haley’s home state of South Carolina, where he leads the former governor by some 30 percentage points.
Follow our blog to replay events as it happened and join the conversation in the comments.
The Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft appeared to crash in Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, in what the Kremlin said was carrying PoWs.
According to Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper, Kyiv claimed it downed the plane in a targeted attack and said it was carrying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles used in recent devastating attacks on Kharkiv.
But the Ukrainian defence ministry later said it was “still clarifying information” about the crash as it did not have accurate details.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said strikes throughout the country killed 18 people and injured more than 130 in his nightly video address.
More than 200 sites were hit, including 139 dwellings, with many deaths in “an ordinary high-rise apartment building. Ordinary people lived there,” he said.
'Highly unlikely' Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board
Mark Voyger, former special adviser for Russian affairs to the US Army Europe, told Sky News the information being released is “sketchy” and it is “highly unlikely” any prisoners of war were on board.
It comes after the Kremlin claimed a Russian military plane has crashed near the border of Ukraine while carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said it was “still clarifying information” about the crash as it did not have accurate details.
Britons face call-up to fight in the armed forces if UK goes to war with Russia, top army chief warns
Britons face being called up to fight in any future wars because the size of the armed forces is too small, a top army chief will say on Wednesday morning
In a speech, General Sir Patrick Sanders will underline the need for the government to “mobilise the nation” in the event of a conflict with Russia.
He will say that private citizens will have to be called up to fight in the armed forces if a war does break out amid a crisis in the British Army, which is at its smallest size in decades.
A Russian military plane has crashed on the border with Ukraine, according to four pro-Kremlin media outlets.
The Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft crashed in Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, reports suggest.
Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that an unspecified “incident” had occurred in the region’s Korochansky district, northeast of Belgorod city, and that he was going to inspect the site.
Belgorod has come under frequent attack from Ukraine in recent months, including a December missile strike which killed 25 people.
File photo of a Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft
Britons could be called up to fight in Nato war, army warns
Britons could be called up to fight in a war against Russia because the military is too small, the head of the British Army will warn.
General Sir Patrick Sanders will stress the need for the Government to “mobilise the nation” in the event of war with Russia in a speech on Wednesday, according to The Telegraph.
It comes after a senior Nato military official warned that private citizens should prepare for an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, which would require wholesale change in their lives.
Ukraine death toll rises to 18 after major Russian missile attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv
An onslaught of Russian missiles targeting Ukraine’s two largest cities have killed 18 people and injured 130 others, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russian forces began pounding more than 200 sites in the capital Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday morning, trapping many people under the rubble of collapsed and damaged buildings.
Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address that around 40 missiles were launched towards Ukrainian cities, out of which “a significant number” were shot down, but many hit their targets.
ICYMI- The United States is out of money for Ukraine
The United States is out of money for Ukraine, unable to send the ammunition and missiles that the government in Kyiv needs to fend off Russia’s invasion.
With the aid caught up in domestic politics, the Biden administration on Tuesday came empty-handed for the first time as host of the monthly meeting of about 50 nations that coordinate support for Ukraine.
The group was established by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in April 2022.
While waiting for Congress to approve more money for Ukraine‘s fight, Washington will look to allies to keep bridging the gap.
“I urge this group to dig deep to provide Ukraine with more lifesaving ground-based air defense systems and interceptors,” Austin said in opening remarks broadcast from his home, where he is recuperating after prostate cancer surgery
.The opening statement by video was the first public appearance from Austin, 70, who appeared slightly gaunt. He was hospitalized for two weeks after complications from the surgery.
After the meeting, Celeste Wallander, assistant defense secretary for international affairs, told reporters that Ukraine‘s ministry of defense is getting reports from its front lines that “units are not do not have the stocks and the stores of ammunition that they require.”
Wallander added: “That is one of the reasons we have been focusing on the need to answer Congress’ questions, so that they are able to move forward on a decision to pass” legislation with the aid.
File: US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin visits NAVCENT in Bahrain
ICYMI - Nato signs £950m contract so Ukraine has more artillery rounds: ‘The war is now a battle for ammunition’
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has become a “battle for ammunition,” the head of Nato has warned, as the alliance signed a £950 million contract to buy hundreds of thousands of vital artillery rounds to help Kyiv’s battle against Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance had signed contracts to purchase 220,000 rounds of 155-millimetre ammunition.
“This is important to defend our own territory, to build up our own stocks, but also to continue to support Ukraine,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “Russia’s war in Ukraine has become a battle for ammunition, so allies must refill their own stocks, as we continue to support Ukraine.”
Mr Stoltenberg said of the Nato deal: “We cannot allow President Putin to win in Ukraine. That would be a tragedy for the Ukrainians and dangerous for all of us.”
Poland’s Donald Tusk meets Zelensky in Ukraine amid tensions over food exports
He said the leaders reached “an understanding” to resolve through talks any differences between their countries over grain shipments and truck exports.
The war, Mr Tusk said, was a wider struggle between Europe and Russia with repercussions beyond Ukraine and hence a priority for Poland.
NATO signs key artillery ammunition contract to replenish allied supplies and help Ukraine
NATO signed on Tuesday a $1.2-billion contract to make tens of thousands of artillery rounds to replenish the dwindling stocks of its member countries as they supply ammunition to Ukraine to help it defeat Russia‘s invasion.
The contract will allow for the purchase of 220,000 rounds of 155-millimeter ammunition, the most widely sought after artillery shell, according to NATO’s support and procurement agency. It will allow allies to backfill their arsenals and to provide Ukraine with more ammunition.
“This is important to defend our own territory, to build up our own stocks, but also to continue to support Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.
“We cannot allow President (Vladimir) Putin to win in Ukraine,” he added. “That would be a tragedy for the Ukrainians and dangerous for all of us.”
