Russian court hands life sentence to man for bomb attack on Russian nationalist writer, Ifax reports


  • World
  • Monday, 30 Sep 2024

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a damaged white Audi Q7 car lying overturned on a track next to a wood, after Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin was allegedly wounded in a bomb attack in a village in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, May 6, 2023. REUTERS/Anastasia Makarycheva/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A military court in Moscow sentenced a man to life in prison on Monday after finding him guilty of attempting to assassinate prominent Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin in a car bombing last year, the Interfax news agency reported.

Alexander Permyakov, who holds both Russian and Ukrainian passports according to Russian media, was arrested soon after the attack on May 6, 2023 near the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 km (250 miles) east of Moscow. Prilepin's legs were broken in the attack and his driver was killed.

Permyakov confessed to the crime, saying he had acted on instructions from Ukraine's SBU security service and had been promised $20,000 to complete the job, Russian state media reported. The SBU has declined to confirm or deny its involvement.

The author of half a dozen novels, Prilepin, 49, often speaks out in support of the Ukraine war on his website, YouTube channel and on Telegram, where he has about 300,000 followers.

For years, he organised Russian proxy forces in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region and led a military unit there, boasting in a 2019 YouTube interview that his unit had "killed people in big numbers".

Prilepin is one of several prominent Russian pro-war figures to be targeted in bomb attacks.

Darya Dugina, daughter of ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed near Moscow in August 2022 by a car bomb that many suspected was intended for her father.

In April 2023, well-known Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed after a package he was handed in a cafe in St Petersburg blew up. In January, a 26-year-old woman was jailed for 27 years for delivering the bomb.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan/Andrew Osborn)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
   

Next In World

South Korea top court upholds conviction of 'comfort women' activist over embezzlement
Australia to make big tech liable for citizens’ online safety
New Zealand parliament debates controversial bill as protesters march on capital
Philippines Marcos' says will not block ICC if ex-president Duterte wants to be investigated
Cross-border challenges widen wealth gap between Europe and US, IMF study finds
Trump taps firebrand congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general
Bob Lee’s accused killer says tech executive ‘went crazy on me’
Think twice before sharing photos of your kids online, experts say
Suspected bomber dead after trying to enter Brazil's top court ahead of G20
Sri Lanka votes for new parliament as economic recovery hangs in balance

Others Also Read