Leonid Volkov, former chief of staff of Alexei Navalny, was attacked outside his home in Lithuania, Navalny’s former spokesperson Kira Yarmysh has said.
“Leonid Volkov has just been attacked outside his house. Someone broke a car window and sprayed tear gas in his eyes, after which the attacker started hitting Leonid with a hammer. Leonid is now at home, police and ambulance are on their way to him,” Yarmish wrote on X.
“Leonid Volkov was attacked with a hammer. He is alive, I will publish the details later. [...] The attack took place in front of his house, they hit him in the legs with a hammer,” Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on Telegram.
Volkov posted a message on Telegram early Wednesday vowing to continue his struggle against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We will work and we will not give up,” Volkov said after he was discharged from the hospital, adding that the attack was a “characteristic bandit hello” from Putin’s henchmen.
According to the Lithuanian Police Department, the Russian man was attacked in Žuvėdrų Street in Vilnius at around 22:00.
“The man attacked me in the yard, hit me on the leg about 15 times. The leg somehow is OK. It hurts to walk. However, I broke my arm,” Volkov said in his Telegram post. “They literally wanted to make a schnitzel out of me.”
According to the police, unidentified persons assaulted and beat the man as he arrived in a car in the yard of his home. He is undergoing outpatient treatment after receiving medical assistance. A pre-trial investigation into minor bodily harm has been opened.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis condemned the assault.
“News about Leonid’s assault are shocking. Relevant authorities are at work. Perpetrators will have to answer for their crime,” he posted on X.
Sergei Bezpalov, Navalny's associate who lives in Vilnius, says that the attack on Volkov was carried out to discourage Russians who have fled abroad from voting in this weekend’s presidential elections.
“In the liberal camp of potential voters, the Kremlin, in my view, is trying to maintain a climate of fear. Many Russians abroad are now planning to go to embassies and vote against Putin. There are also protests planned for Sunday. Pro-opposition citizens want to hold rallies in front of every Russian embassy on that day,” Bezpalov told LRT RADIO.
Volkov left Russia several years ago under threat of arrest and now lives in Lithuania. He served as chairman of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) until 2023.
On March 9, 2023, Volkov resigned as chairman of FBK after admitting that, without consulting his colleagues, he signed a letter on behalf of the foundation, asking the EU to lift sanctions on Mikhail Fridman, a Russian oligarch, whose banking business was found to be a sponsor of the Russian war machine.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic prison on February 16.
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