A long-time ally of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been attacked outside his home in Lithuania.
Leonid Volkov said his arm was broken and his leg hit 15 times with a hammer.
Lithuanian intelligence said the attack was probably “Russian-organised and implemented” and Mr Volkov agrees.
It was “an obvious, typical, gangster greeting from Putin, from bandit St Petersburg”, he said, but gave no more details about his attacker.
Police have begun an investigation into the attack, which took place as the activist arrived at home in Vilnius in his car.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he hoped those behind the attack would be found, adding: “I can only say one thing to Putin – nobody is afraid of you here.”
Another member of the Navalny team, Ivan Zhdanov, posted pictures on social media showing Mr Volkov with a bloodied lower left leg and bruising to his head.
Asked whether the assailant had shouted anything, Mr Zhdanov said: “Everything happened in silence… of course this is a clear political attack, there is no doubt here.”
Mr Volkov’s wife, who is also part of the Navalny team, said her husband had returned home from hospital with a broken arm, adding that he was unable to walk because of the hammer blows to his leg.
“We will all work even more. And with even greater anger,” Anna Biryukova posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Mr Volkov, 43, has lived outside Russia for some years for his own safety and served as Navalny’s chief-of-staff until the opposition leader died suddenly in prison in the Russian Arctic last month.
Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence after being convicted of charges that were politically motivated.
Mr Volkov also faces various politically motivated charges in Russia.
He was chairman of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation until last year, when he resigned following the revelation he had signed letters calling for the EU to drop some Russian sanctions.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the “perpetrators will have to answer for their crime”.
The VSD state security department in Vilnius suggested the attack was an attempt at preventing Russia’s opposition from carrying out “projects in connection with the forthcoming undemocratic Russian presidential elections”.
Voting takes place over three days from Friday, although no genuine opposition candidate has been allowed to run.
In a video posted on social media on his return home, Mr Volkov, with his arm in his sling, revealed that his attacker had used a meat hammer and “literally wanted to make a schnitzel out of me”.
He vowed the attack would not stop his political activism and he called on voters in Russia to join a peaceful protest on Sunday, the final day of the presidential vote.
He urged Russians to head for polling stations at the same time for an act that supporters are calling “midday against Putin”. “We have to do something, right?” he concluded.
Despite living outside Russia, Mr Volkov has made sure that the activism of Navalny and his team could continue.
This has included anti-corruption investigations, YouTube videos and livestreams during protests and major events in Russia.
Many more activists moved to join Mr Volkov abroad in 2021 after Navalny’s entire political organisation was labelled “extremist” and banned in Russia.
Several of Navalny’s former team are now in prison, as well as some of his lawyers.
Ahead of this weekend’s election, Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya has also called on opponents of Vladimir Putin to join Sunday’s protest, which was an idea supported by Alexei Navalny before he died.
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Source: bbc.co.uk
