The suspect in the case of the terrorist attack against the writer Zakhar Prilepin confessed to blowing up his car, and also stated that he acted on instructions from the Ukrainian special services, the Investigative Committee reported. The name of the detainee is Alexander Permyakov. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he was born in 1993 and had a previous conviction.
“The suspect was detained, during the interrogation he testifies that he acted on the instructions of the Ukrainian special services. On the road along the route of Zakhar Prilepin’s car, Permyakov planted an explosive device, which he set off remotely, ”the ministry said in a statement.
The Investigative Committee also published a video recording of Permyakov’s testimony. He said that he was born in Ukraine, and in 2018 he was recruited by the Ukrainian special services. Permyakov, according to him, arrived in Russia in 2022 with the aim of “murdering, eliminating Zakhar Prilepin.” “The method of murder is a remote explosion with two anti-tank mines. I regret what I did,” he said.
The interrogation of Permyakov continues, they took swabs from his hands and clothes for forensic examinations, they noted in the UK. The investigation establishes other persons involved in blowing up the writer’s car.
Audi Q7 Prilepin exploded in the Nizhny Novgorod region on the morning of May 6. A crater formed at the site of the explosion. The writer was injured and his driver died. The UK opened a criminal case under Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorist attack). A few hours later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained the suspect. The department added that the search for possible accomplices continues.
The head of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin, said that Prilepin was “in relative order”, received fractures, but there was no threat to his health. An RBC source close to the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that the writer had severe leg injuries.
Nikitin also said that the one who died in the explosion was Prilepin’s “assistant and ally”. According to Mash and the Cheka-OGPU, this is the writer’s bodyguard, a native of Lugansk Alexander Shubin.
Zakhar Prilepin is a writer, author of the novels Pathology, Sankya, and others, as well as co-chairman of the Just Russia – For Truth party. In recent years, he has actively provided assistance to the Donbass, and in early 2023 he signed a contract with the Russian Guard and went to the zone of military operations in Ukraine.
