Zakhar Prilepin

Yevgeny Nikolayevich Prilepin (; born 7 July 1975), writing as Zakhar Prilepin , and sometimes using another pseudonym, Yevgeny Lavlinsky , is a Russian writer, politician leader.

He was a member of Russia's National Bolshevik Party from 1996 to 2019 and the leader of the national-conservative political party For Truth from 1 February 2020 until it merged into A Just Russia in February 2021. He started working at age 16 as a loader in a bread shop. He is a member of the ideological think tank the Izborsky Club.

Prilepin was a member of the banned Russian National Bolshevik Party a Stalinist critique aimed against modern Russian "liberal society", which was widely regarded as antisemitic.

The media has repeatedly mentioned Prilepin's friendship with Vladislav Surkov, whose cousin is married to Prilepin's sister, Yelena.

In February 2017, Prilepin gave a lengthy interview, in which he revealed that he was leading a volunteer battalion in the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk. The battalion was the 4th Reconnaissance and Assault Battalion of the Special Forces of the Armed forces of DNR, commonly known as Prilepin's Battalion; Prilepin claimed it had been created in July 2016 on his initiative and announced "we will ride on a white horse into any town we've abandoned." Prilepin further said he was second in command with the rank of major. Prilepin was an influential figure and a celebrity in the DNR and the concept of Malorossiya was seemingly created by him.

In late July 2018, Prilepin returned "demobilized" to Moscow; the battalion he had served in was disbanded in September 2018. Prilepin boasted that the battalion had killed more Ukrainians than any other. However, there is no evidence that he took part in any actual combat. He is wanted on terrorism charges in Ukraine, and was denied entry to Bosnia-Herzegovina for security reasons.

On 29 November 2018, he joined the All-Russian People's Front. Because of this, he was excluded from The Other Russia political party by its founder Eduard Limonov, who had earlier, together with party members, told Prilepin to choose between the two political structures.

On 29 October 2019, he created the public movement For Truth (За правду). He intended for the movement to be transformed into a political party that will participate in the 2021 legislative election. However, the party merged into A Just Russia in February 2021.

Prilepin strongly supported Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. For his support of the war in Ukraine, Prilepin has been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom The European Union had included him in the very first round of sanctions on 28 February 2022 on those supporting the invasion. In January 2023, Prilepin signed a contract to join the Russian National Guard and fought in Ukraine for a second time.

Antisemitic controversy In July 2012 Prilepin published a short essay titled "A Letter to comrade Stalin", which provoked outrage and accusations of antisemitism. In the essay written in the 1st person of collective Jewish consciousness According to the BBC, the Atesh partisan movement claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was the third of this type targeting pro-war figures to happen in Russia after the start of its invasion of Ukraine, with the earlier ones having been the killing of Darya Dugina and the 2023 Saint Petersburg bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky. On 6 June 2023, Vladimir Putin awarded Prilepin the Order of Courage.

On 30 September 2024, Alexander Permyakov, a former pro-Russian separatist fighter from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the attack.

Personal life Prilepin is married to Maria and has two sons and two daughters: Gleb, Ignat, Kira, and Lilia. Prilepin lives in Nizhny Novgorod.

The stories: Magazine "Russian life": "The Kid's Story" — No. 15, 2007 "Dog Meat" — No. 11 (28), 2008 "Hero of Rock and Roll" — No. 12 (29), 2008 Magazine "Our Contemporary": "Zhilka" — No. 10, 2007