NIZHNY NOVGOROD. May 19 (Interfax) - Nizhny Novgorod medics on Friday performed another surgery on writer Zakhar Prilepin, who earlier sustained injuries when his car was blown up in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Governor Gleb Nikitin said.
"Zakhar Prilepin had another surgery today. Doctors are hoping that it will become the final serious surgical intervention," Nikitin wrote on Telegram.
Doctors from a federal medical research center performed the surgery together with Nizhny Novgorod medics, he said.
Everything is going "smoothly," he said.
The writer "is awake now," Nikitin said.
Prilepin was on a family trip in the settlement of Pionerskoye, Nizhny Novgorod region, on May 6 when his car exploded while it was moving. The driver was killed, while the writer sustained injuries and was hospitalized.
On the same day, the police detained a suspect identified as Alexander Permyakov, 30, born in the Donetsk region. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, Permyakov had been recruited by Ukrainian special services in 2018.
A court ruled on May 8 to take Permyakov into pretrial custody for two months. He was charged with carrying out a terrorist attack and the illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, sending or possession of explosive substances or explosive devices.