Suspect arrested over car bomb attack on pro-Kremlin writer Zakhar Prilepin

A suspect in the car bombing which injured a prominent pro-Kremlin novelist and killed his driver has been arrested.

Thirty-year-old Alexander Permyakov has been charged with committing an act of terrorism and possession and distribution of explosives.

The blast that hit the car of Zakhar Prilepin, an ardent supporter of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, was the third such attack on pro-Kremlin figures since the start of the operation.

The writer suffered broken bones, bruised lungs and other injuries as a result of the blast.

Prilepin became a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014 after Putin annexed the Crimean peninsula.

He was involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine on the side of Russia-backed separatists. Last year, he was sanctioned by the European Union for his support of Russia's action in Ukraine.

In 2020, he founded a political party, For the Truth, which Russian media reported was backed by the Kremlin.

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In August 2022, a car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of an influential Russian political theorist often referred to as "Putin's brain.” The authorities alleged that Ukraine was behind the blast.

Last month, an explosion in a cafe in St. Petersburg killed a popular military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky. Officials once again blamed Ukrainian intelligence agencies for orchestrating it.