Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin, a staunch supporter of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, was wounded on Thursday when a bomb planted under his car went off, authorities said, quickly accusing Kiev and Western powers.
The writer’s driver died in the detonation, according to the Russian Investigative Committee, which opened an investigation for a “terrorist act.”
“One person was killed in the explosion and the writer Zajar Prilepin, who was in the car, was injured,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Subsequently, that portfolio reported that there is a man arrested as suspected of being involved: “Police officers arrested a man they were chasing and who could be involved in the car explosion,” spokeswoman Irina Volk said.
According to preliminary data, an explosive device was placed under the car and detonated in the Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod, in the west of the country, where the writer is from.
Anonymous medical and security sources, quoted by Russian news agencies, say that Prilepin suffered leg injuries and was hospitalized.
According to the investigative committee, the writer was in his car “with his family” when the explosion occurred.
“Zajar (Prilepin) suffered minor fractures, his life is not in danger,” the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region said on Telegram, according to what the AFP news agency reported.
After learning the first details, the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, accused Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom and NATO of being behind this “terrorist” act.
“Direct responsibility of the United States and the United Kingdom. We pray for Zajar,” the spokeswoman wrote on Telegram.
A leading figure on the Russian literary scene, translated in many countries, the 47-year-old writer has been committed since 2014 to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, with whom he fought.
Since then, this veteran of the Chechen wars in the 1990s has traveled regularly to eastern Ukraine and defended President Vladimir Putin and his full-scale offensive against Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022.
Very present in the Russian media, he is also active in patriotic and traditionalist movements in Russia.
In recent weeks, drone attacks, sabotage and alleged attacks have multiplied on Russian territory.
In this context, an alleged drone attack against the Kremlin took place last Wednesday, for which Russia blames Ukraine, but the government of that country denied its responsibility and points to a possible “false flag” operation.
Today’s incident with Prilepin is reminiscent of what happened in early April, when an influential military blogger, Vladlen Tatarski, also a fervent supporter of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, was killed in an explosion in a cafe in downtown St. Petersburg.
At the end of August, Daria Dugin, the daughter of Russian nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, also died when her car exploded in the Moscow region.
Source: Ambito
