An influential Russian author and pro-war blogger has been injured by a car explosive, according to officials.
Zakhar Prilepin was reportedly conscious after the assault in the Nizhny Novgorod region, but his driver was killed.
The interior ministry stated that a suspect was detained for the assault.
A month prior, another pro-Kremlin blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in a café explosion in St. Petersburg.
Less than two hours after the initial report of Saturday’s attack, the interior ministry announced that the suspect had been apprehended in Nizhny Novgorod.
Nizhny Novgorod’s governor, Gleb Nikitin, stated that law enforcement officers are currently investigating the incident’s circumstances and causes. Zakhar is OK.”
The explosion occurred on a remote road approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the village of Bor. According to state media, the blogger sustained a concussion and multiple bone fractures.
The 47-year-old is renowned for his involvement in Russian ultranationalist politics and is one of Russia’s most prominent novelists.
He confessed to fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
He demanded the “return of Kyiv to Russia.” A group founded by Mr. Prilepin urged officials to “purge the cultural space” of all those who oppose the conflict in the previous year.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, refused to comment on the alleged explosion until the investigation was concluded.
However, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attempted to place responsibility on the United Kingdom and the United States.
She wrote on Telegram, “The reality is that Washington and NATO fed another international terrorist cell – the Kyiv regime.” “We offer prayers for Zakhar.”
This is the most recent attack against prominent supporters of President Putin’s conflict in Ukraine.
Last month, Vladlen Tatarsky was murdered. The blogger gained notoriety last year after posting a video recorded inside the Kremlin in which he declared, “We will defeat everyone, kill everyone, and rob everyone as necessary. Just as we like it.”
Activist Darya Trepova, 26, was subsequently arrested and charged with terrorism after the release of a video – believed to have been recorded under duress – in which she acknowledged bringing a statuette to the café that subsequently exploded.
Darya Dugina, the daughter of a close ally of Mr. Putin, was murdered in a suspected car bombing near Moscow in August 2022.
Her father, the Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, also known as “Putin’s brain,” is believed to have been the intended target of the attack.
