Russian writer Zachar Prilepin (47), who was injured in an attack on Saturday, has awakened from his artificial coma. Prilepin’s condition is said to be stable, according to his doctors. The atmosphere is also “lively”, says the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region concerned.
Zachar Prilepin, a well-known Russian nationalist writer who was even voted the most influential Russian writer of the decade in 2019, is very pro-Kremlin and is also a strong defender of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. In 2017, he himself fought in a volunteer battalion in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk against the Ukrainians. Prilepin later claimed/boasted that his unit, also known as the Prilepin Battalion, had killed the most Ukrainians of all.
Scale
On Saturday, Prilepin was injured in an attack by a bomb in his car, his driver was killed. The explosion was in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 400 kilometers east of Moscow.
LOOK. Russian writer Prilepin (47) injured after car bomb attack in Russia
According to the Russian authorities, the attack was carried out with an anti-tank mine. A resistance group operating in both Russia and the occupied part of Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Ukrainian Secret Service”
A few hours after the incident, a man born in 1993 was arrested who, according to the Russians, had acted on behalf of the Ukrainian secret service. According to Russian media, the arrested man confessed that he had been recruited in Ukraine several years ago. He was ordered to move to Russia, follow Prilepin and attempt to assassinate him. It remains to be seen whether that information is correct.
Conscious
On Sunday, Prilepin awoke from his artificial coma anyway. “He is conscious, according to the doctors, his condition is stable and he is in good spirits,” Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin told Telegram.
Attack wave
Russia is currently in the grip of a wave of attacks on various targets and individuals.
For example, a popular Russian military blogger, known for his pro-Russian views on the war in Ukraine, was recently killed in a bomb attack in St. Petersburg. And in August Daria Dugina, daughter of Putin’s house ideologue Alexander Dugin, died near Moscow when her car was remotely detonated. Moscow accused Ukraine both times, Kiev denied.
PORTRAIT. “No one has killed more Ukrainians” Who is Zachar Prilepin, the violent Russian writer? (+)
Russia ravaged by exploding oil depots. What does that say about the Ukrainian spring offensive? (+)
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