Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Wednesday that remarks by Russian opposition activist Leonid Volkov about Ukraine are unacceptable and that he should not be allowed to remain in the country.
Volkov, who resides in Lithuania, drew criticism after his private messages were published online in which he welcomed the death of a far-right militant in Ukraine and criticised several Ukrainian officials, calling them “propagandising hypocritical thieves”.
“In my personal opinion, such statements are unacceptable and such a person should not stay in Lithuania,” Ruginienė told reporters.
She said Lithuania’s State Security Department is investigating Volkov’s comments and that the Migration Department will decide whether to revoke his temporary residence permit once the probe is completed.
“I very much hope the investigation will be thorough and that in the future we will be able to avoid both such statements and such people who allow themselves to make them,” the prime minister said.
The Migration Department has asked the State Security Department to assess whether Volkov’s remarks pose a threat to national security.
The controversy followed the publication Monday of Volkov’s private messages by Ana Tiron, a former employee of the Anti-Corruption Foundation who later joined the Russian Volunteer Corps, a unit fighting alongside Ukraine.
A screenshot circulating online shows Volkov appearing to welcome the killing of Denis Kapustin, the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, which has carried out raids inside Russia during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“A Nazi died who, by his very existence, was a gift to Kremlin propaganda,” Volkov wrote, referring to Kapustin. He also criticized Ukrainian officials, including Andriy Yermak, former head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office who resigned amid a high-profile corruption scandal; Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential adviser; and Kyrylo Budanov, former head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, saying they should be imprisoned.
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He later said he regretted writing the messages.
“I regret that I wrote that message. It was foolish, wrong and an emotionally harsh message that should not have been written,” Volkov said in an interview with LRT.lt on Tuesday.
Volkov, a former close ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in 2024, currently holds a temporary residence permit in Lithuania.
Under Lithuanian law, such permits can be revoked if a foreign national is deemed to pose a threat to national security, public order, or public health.
The State Security Department said it continuously monitors threats to national security, warning that “regimes hostile to Lithuania and Ukraine may use similar rhetoric for propaganda purposes.”
Volkov was attacked near his home in Vilnius in March 2024, when an assailant smashed his car window, sprayed tear gas and beat him with a meat tenderiser, breaking his arm and bruising his leg.
