After two years, a Warsaw court just released the man accused of orchestrating attacks on Russian oppositionists
A court in Warsaw released Anatoly Blinov from pretrial detention and placed him under police supervision, a correspondent for the Russian-language outlet Vot Tak reported from the courtroom. Blinov is accused of organizing an attack on opposition politician Leonid Volkov.
The defense had pushed for Blinov’s immediate release, arguing that he had already spent nearly two years in custody — the maximum period of detention allowed under Polish law.
Prosecutors had asked the court to keep Blinov in custody, arguing that he might flee. Blinov countered by submitting a lease agreement for an apartment in Poland as evidence that he had no plans to leave.
Blinov faces charges in five separate episodes: organizing an attack on Leonid Volkov in Vilnius; organizing a separate attack on him in New York; organizing an attack on Alexandra Petrachkova, the wife of economist Maxim Mironov; arson at a Vilnius installation known as “SHIZO”; and intent to use forged documents.
Prosecutors say Blinov carried out all of the crimes on the orders of a single person, whose identity was disclosed only during a closed session of the trial.
Polish media sources had previously reported that prosecutors concluded Blinov had been “inspired” by Leonid Nevzlin, one of Yukos’s former owners.
Blinov was arrested in September 2024. A court ordered his release on bail three months later, but prosecutors successfully appealed the decision, and Blinov remained in detention.
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