Zakhar Prilepin, renowned Russian nationalist writer, was injured in a car bombing that killed his driver on Saturday. Investigators are probing Alexander Permyakov’s involvement in the assassination attempt on Zakhar Prilepin. The writer’s car was blown up on the highway in the Nizhny Novgorod Area.
Ahead of the May 9 Victory Day parade, this was the latest among the slew of apparent attacks and sabotage operations that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.
Who is Alexander Permyakov?
Alexander Permyakov is the suspect in the assassination attempt on Russian politician and pro-Kremlin writer Zakhar Prilepin. During the investigation, he admitted that he acted on the instruction of Ukraine’s special services, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.
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He was detained by the regional police in hot pursuit. “The suspect has been detained, during interrogation he is testifying that he was acting on the instructions of the Ukrainian special services,” the committee said on Telegram.
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As per the committee’s statement, the suspect accepted to have planted an explosive device along the car’s path and set it off remotely. The committee accused Permyakov of having detonated a remote-controlled bomb, which wrecked Prilepin’s vehicle.
The suspect was arrested in the neighboring village, which is more than 425 km east of Moscow.
The Russian Investigative Committee also said that experts took swabs from his hands and clothes to conduct forensic examinations.
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However, nothing has been confirmed by Ukraine nor they have denied any involvement. Kyiv has not responded to a Russian foreign ministry allegation that Ukraine, with the support of the US government, targeted Prilepin as an ideological enemy. The assassination attempt on Prilepin comes a month after another pro-Kremlin blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, died in a bombing at a St Petersburg café. The attack took place on a remote road around 80 Km from the town of Bor. Atesh, the partisan group of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars said it was behind the attack.
