The explosion that killed the writer’s driver took place at a time when Russia is being subjected to an increasing number of strikes by drones, sabotage and attacks, but it is not clear who is responsible for them.
Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin, who supports the invasion of Ukraine, was injured on Saturday in the “explosion” of his car, prompting Moscow to accuse Ukraine and the West of being behind this attack.
The explosion, which killed the writer’s driver, took place at a time when Russia is being subjected to an increasing number of strikes by drones, sabotage and attacks, without it being clear who is clearly responsible for them.
The Kremlin accuses Ukraine of being behind these operations, which Kiev denies at a time when its forces are preparing a large-scale attack, as celebrations in Russia approach the anniversary of the victory over the Nazi forces on the ninth of May.
And on Wednesday, an attack by two drones, according to Russia, targeted a Kremlin building, and Kiev denied any involvement in that.
And the Ministry of the Interior announced in a statement, “A person was killed in the explosion and the writer Zakhar Prilepin, who was in the car, was injured,” and later confirmed the arrest of a person “who may be related to the explosion” in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where the attack took place.
Russian news agencies quoted unidentified medical and security sources as saying that the writer was wounded in the legs.
Gleb Nikitin, the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region (center-west), from which the author hails, wrote on the Telegram application that “Zakhar has minor fractures, and there is no danger to his life.”
Immediately after the first reports of the incident were received, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine, the United States, Britain and NATO of being behind this “terrorist” act, and held Telegram “the direct responsibility of the United States and Britain.”
According to the investigation committee, which spoke of a “terrorist act”, Zakhar Prilepin was in his car “with his family” when the explosion occurred at around 11:00 (8:00 GMT).
A picture of the accident site published by the Investigation Committee showed a white car overturned on its roof and its front part smashed against a gap on a dirt road in a wooded area.
Al-Kateb, who is considered a prominent figure on the literary scene and whose works have been translated in many countries, supported pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and fought alongside them since 2014.
Since then, he has been regularly going to eastern Ukraine and defending President Vladimir Putin and his attack on Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022.
He also actively participates in the nationalist and traditional movements in Russia, as he remains present in the Russian media.
The writer, who has been subject to European sanctions since the end of February 2022, last year, participated in a parliamentary group tasked with exposing elements of cultural circles in Russia who express “anti-Russian positions.”
Before endorsing Putin, this former combatant was active in the two Chechen wars in the nineties of the last century, for a period with the opposition in the ranks of the National Bolshevik Party led by writer Eduard Limonov (1943-2020).
Prilepin is not the first supporter of the war in Ukraine to be targeted for attack.
In early April, the pro-invasion military blogger Fomin, whose real name was Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in a booby-trapped statue in a cafe in central St. Petersburg owned by the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
And in late August, Daria Dugina, the daughter of a thinker close to the Kremlin, Alexander Dugin, was killed when her car exploded in the Moscow region.