Navalny associate Leonid Volkov reportedly attacked outside his home in Lithuania
Content warning: This story features bloody images and descriptions.
Leonid Volkov, the former chairman of Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, was attacked outside of his home in Lithuania on Tuesday, Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh reported on X.
According to Yarmysh, the attacker broke the window of Volkov’s car and sprayed tear gas in his eyes before beating him repeatedly with a hammer. Yarmysh said an ambulance and law enforcement were on their way to the scene.
Current Anti-Corruption Foundation Director Ivan Zhdanov also reported the assault, writing: “Leonid Volkov was attacked with a hammer. He’s alive, details later.” In a later comment to Meduza, Zhdanov confirmed that Volkov had been hospitalized.
According to journalist Sergey Parkhomenko, Volkov lives in a small village. “That means this wasn’t a random street hooligan or a robber. This is a person who went there specifically to attack Volkov,” Parkhomenko wrote on Telegram.
Lithuanian police also appear to have confirmed the attack. According to the news outlet Delfi, the police reported that a “Russian citizen” was beaten outside of his home in Vilnius around 10:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
Commenting on X, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis described the attack on Volkov as “shocking,” adding that the “relevant authorities are at work” and that the “perpetrators will have to answer for their crime.”
Update: Volkov posted a video on his Telegram channel stating that he has returned home after receiving treatment at the hospital. He says his attacker broke one of his arms but failed to break his legs, despite striking them with a hammer “roughly 15 times.” Volkov said he would comment in more detail later but described the attack as “an obvious, characteristic, typical, gangster-style greeting from Putin.”
