It has now been six months since the hammer attack on Leonid Volkov, a confidant of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The Polish Prosecutor’s Office has now launched an investigation against a suspected perpetrator from Russia.
The man, identified as Anatoli B., is accused of three criminal offences, including politically motivated bodily harm, the Polish Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday.
In addition to B., six Polish and one Belarusian citizen are also being investigated. According to the investigative authority, the Russian was arrested last Friday. Initially, he was placed in pre-trial detention for three months. Two Poles and a Belarusian are also in custody.
Attacked in front of a house in Vilnius
Russian opposition figure Volkov was attacked multiple times with a hammer outside his home in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in March, a few weeks after Navalny’s death. The 43-year-old was briefly treated in hospital. After the attack, Lithuania’s secret service said it was likely a Russian-organized attack.
Navalny, Russia’s most prominent Kremlin critic, died on February 16 in a Russian prison camp in the Arctic, where Russian authorities say he was serving a 19-year prison sentence. Navalny’s supporters and numerous Western politicians blame Russian leaders and President Vladimir Putin for the opposition figure’s death.
Several attacks on opposition members
Opening the investigation into the attack on Navalny’s confidant Volkov, the Polish Prosecutor’s Office said it was investigating several attacks on Russian opposition figures with ties to the anti-corruption foundation founded by Navalny, which took place in Europe and North and South America.
Volkov himself repeated his allegations against Leonid Nevslin, a former business partner of the oligarch and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Newslin exchanged ideas with the alleged perpetrator B. and organized several attacks against him, Volkov explains in the online service X.
Perpetrators must hand over Volkov to Russian secret service
Volkov had already made his accusations to Newslin a week ago. Newslin was ready to pay $250,000 to perpetrators who would make me disabled and hand me over to the (Russian secret service) FSB.” Newslin dismissed the accusations on the online service Telegram as “absurd” and “groundless.”
His former business partner Khodorkovsky also defended Newslin against the accusations – pointing out that Russia’s state broadcaster RT had already spread similar accusations against Newslin and that it could therefore be a “provocation” by the FSB secret service.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
