Writer and political activist Zakhar Prilepin’s car exploded near Nizhny Novgorod on Saturday. One person died in the explosion. Prilepin himself is wounded.
The explosion was first reported by a number of Russian Telegram channels, including 112 and Baza. The information was confirmed by TASS and Interfax sources. Subsequently, the explosion was officially reported by the Russian Interior Ministry. The commission of inquiry qualified the incident as a terrorist attack.
One person died – the driver. The Telegram channel WarGonzo claims that we are talking about the guard of Prilepin with the call sign “Evil”. According to “Baza”, this is Alexander Shubin, a native of Lugansk.
Prilepin survived the explosion, but was injured. According to TASS, the writer is hospitalized. There is conflicting information about his condition. Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Gleb Nikitin said Prilepin had “minor fractures” and there was no threat to his life. According to a number of reports, Prilepin has broken legs and a concussion.
The commission of inquiry has opened a criminal investigation into the explosion. Desk posted a photo from the scene.
A number of telegram channels published video of the scene of the explosion. It shows a large crater and a car actually torn apart by the explosion.
The exact picture of what happened is still unclear. A number of Telegram channels claim that Prilepin was not inside the car at the time of the explosion, which probably saved his life.
In the Nizhny Novgorod region, the “Interception” plan was introduced. The police were instructed to stop “all suspicious vehicles”, says “Baza”. The Interior Ministry said a person suspected of involvement in the blast had been arrested.
Interfax, citing emergency service sources, reported that the car Prilepin was in exploded while he was driving. “The main version is the detonation of an improvised radio-controlled explosive device. The driver died, the writer was injured and hospitalized,” the sources said. According to preliminary data, an improvised explosive device was planted in the bottom of the car.
RBC claims Prilepin only returned this morning from Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine and traveled to the Nizhny Novgorod region with his family.
Prilepin is a famous Russian writer, winner of literary prizes. One of the leaders of the Just Russia – For Truth party (he was elected to the State Duma in 2021, but refused the mandate). Since 2014, he took a clearly anti-Ukrainian position, for some time he fought alongside the separatists “DNR”. Last fall, it was reported that he again went to war in Ukraine as part of the National Guard.
So far there are no official reports or versions of what happened. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, however, has previously blamed the explosion on the United States and Britain, saying they had developed a “terrorist regime” in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no details yet and it was impossible to say who was behind the attack.
The Ukrainian Crimean Tatar organization “Atesh” indirectly declared its involvement in the attempted assassination of Prilepin. A number of commentators have expressed doubts about the veracity of these claims.
In August 2022, the daughter of radical philosopher Alexander Dugin, Daria, died in a car explosion near Moscow. In April, pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in an explosion at a Saint Petersburg cafe. Both explosions were blamed on Ukrainian intelligence by Russian authorities and investigators.
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