Prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin, was injured today, Saturday, in a car explosion that also resulted in the death of his driver. Russia quickly blamed Ukraine and the West for the attack.
The Russian Investigative Committee reported that Prilepin's private car exploded in a village in the Nizhny Novgorod region, approximately 400 kilometers east of Moscow, and described the incident as a "terrorist act," noting that "Prilepin has been transferred to a hospital."
The committee released an image showing the white car flipped over on a roadway next to farmland, with a deep crater alongside it and metal shrapnel scattered nearby.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that a suspect has been arrested.
According to Russian news agency TASS, security sources mentioned that they had detected an apartment in the Moscow region believed to be where the bomb was assembled.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, wrote on Telegram, “The truth has become a reality; Washington and NATO have fed another international terrorist cell, namely the regime in Kyiv.” She added, “The responsibility lies directly with the United States and Britain,” but did not provide evidence to support the allegations.
Prilepin, a novelist known for his pro-war views regarding the Russian war in Ukraine and his boasting about participating in military combat there, has become the third prominent pro-war figure targeted in an explosion since Moscow’s widespread invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Prilepin frequently expresses his support for the war in Ukraine on social media, with more than 300,000 followers combined across his Telegram, website, and YouTube channel.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for the deaths of journalist Darya Dugina and pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in previous attacks, while Kyiv has denied involvement. There have been no reports from Ukraine regarding the latest incident.
