https://medium.com/dfrlab/minskmonitor-russian-novelist-commander-leaves-donetsk-and-questions-behind-d1faff729d

Last week, Zakhar Prilepin left his post as deputy commander of an armed formation in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) for his home country of Russia. Prilepin was widely recognized in both Russia and the West as one of Russia's greatest living writers, though his public image was greatly affected from his activities in eastern Ukraine and his controversial political positions that have aligned him with far-right, ultra-nationalist, and fascist elements within Russia and Ukraine.

Prilepin had long been a supporter of the “republics” in the occupied areas of the Donbas, both through his Russian nationalist activism in Eduard Limonov’s “Other Russia” Party, which sent dozens of its members to fight in eastern Ukraine, and his personal friendship with Vladislav Surkov, Putin’s point man in handling eastern Ukraine and representing Russia in the Minsk accords. His role in the DNR was not limited to just being the deputy commander of a small formation, or the highest-profile celebrity within occupied Ukraine; rather, we must carefully consider his positions within the context of his friendship with Surkov and role as a key advisor to DNR leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko.