nationalists targeted
Regional governor Gleb Nikitin said he visited Prilepin in hospital and that “the operation was successful”.
Prilepin is a vocal supporter of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, where he fought alongside pro-Russia separatists in 2014. His novels are based on his experiences serving with the Russian military in Chechnya and as a member of a banned radical nationalist group.
The shaven-headed writer has been a frequent visitor to pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine since the conflict began in April 2014.
There have been two previous assassinations of nationalists, both of which Russia blamed on Ukraine.
In April, Vladlen Tatarsky, a 40-year-old pro-Kremlin military blogger, was killed in the explosion of a statue rigged with explosives.
The Kremlin said the attack was carried out by Ukraine with the help of supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
But observers said the April bombings could be used to justify another crackdown on critics.
And last August, Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent ultranationalist intellectual, was killed in a car bombing outside Moscow that Russia blamed on Ukraine. Kiev denied the allegations.