Russia’s long history of female assassins

The news that a young woman anti-war activist, Darya Trepova, is suspect number one in the bombing assassination of Russian pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky may shock those schooled to believe that political violence is an all-male preserve. But it will come as no surprise to anyone with the sketchiest knowledge of Russian history. For in Russian politics, as Rudyard Kipling wrote, ‘the female of the species is more deadly than the male’.

Since the days of the Tsars, women have always been at the forefront of political violence in Russia. The spectacular assassination in 1881 of Tsar Alexander II, known as ‘The Liberator’ for his abolition of serfdom, was organised by a young woman named Sofia Perovskaya, the leading light in the revolutionary terrorist group calling itself Narodnaya Volya or ‘The People’s Will’.

Sofia carried out the killing in St Petersburg, the same city where