The car of Russian author, journalist and politician Zakhar Prilepin was blown up on a highway in Nizhny Novgorod region about 450 km east of Moscow. The driver was killed and Prilepin has been injured, a law enforcement source told Sputnik.
"The explosion took place on the highway in Bor District. The emergency services, police, and the Investigative Committee are heading to the scene of the tragedy," the source said.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed the destruction of a vehicle in Nizhny Novgorod region, saying one person was killed, and that Prilepin was injured.
Later in the day, police announced that they had detained an individual suspected of possible involvement in the incident.
Prilepin's press service indicated that the author is alive, and that "it hasn't been established what exactly happened."
Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin confirmed that Prilepin "is fine," and said law enforcement is continuing its investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suspected a foreign trace in Saturday's incident.
"Washington and NATO have bred another international terrorist cell - the Kiev regime. Bin Laden, ISIS (Daesh)*, now Zelensky and his thugs. This is the direct responsibility of the United States and Britain," the spokeswoman wrote on her Telegram channel. "We're praying for Zakhar," she added.
Who is Zakhar Prilepin?
Zakhar Prilepin is one of the best-known fiction writers of contemporary Russia, penning bestsellers including 'The Monestary', 'Sin' and 'Sankya', and winning a host of prestigious literary awards for his work, which is known for its politically-engaging style and revolutionary overtones, and the display of strong emotions.
He is also politically active, mixing support for Russia against the West with criticism of some of the government's domestic policies. He founded the Za Pravdu ('For Truth') party - a national patriotic, socially conservative, economically left, anti-liberal party in 2020. The party merged with A Just Russia, a major Russian socially conservative, economically social democratic party, in 2021.
Prilepin served as a military correspondent in the Donbass starting in 2014, with his work appearing in major Russian publications. He also engaged in fundraising drives, collecting millions of rubles to purchase humanitarian aid for the civilian population, as well as money for ammunition for the Donbass militias. He was recruited to serve as a deputy commander of a Donbass special forces battalion between 2016 and 2018. Ukraine's Security Service opened criminal proceedings against him, charging him with "participating in the activities of a terrorist organization" and the "financing of terrorism." Prilepin retired from the Donbass in 2018, but continued to speak and write about the conflict extensively.
If Kiev's involvement in Saturday's incident is confirmed, it will be the latest instance of an attack on a Russian national engaged in journalistic activities, with previous incidents including a car bombing which killed journalist Daria Dugina, the daughter of Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, and the bombing of a cafe in St. Petersburg last month which killed war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky.
Russian authorities have accused Ukraine's intelligence services and military of systematically targeting journalists, civilians and officials in the Donbass, civilians in other Russian regions bordering Ukraine, and infrastructure ranging from nuclear power plants to the Kremlin. Investigators have opened thousands of criminal cases against authorities in Kiev. Earlier Saturday, Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin reported that over 126,000 residents of the Donbass have been recognized as victims of the conflict since it began in 2014.
* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.