Leonid Volkov. Photo: EPA-EFE/PHILIP DAVALI DENMARK OUT
Long-time Alexey Navalny associate Leonid Volkov, who was violently attacked in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in March, announced the arrest in Poland of two men suspected of carrying out the attack on Friday.
Referring to a statement by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Volkov said that Polish and Lithuanian law enforcement agencies had detained two suspects.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced the detention of the man alleged to have ordered the hit on Leonid Volkov. “A Belarusian working for the Russians, who hired two Poles to attack Navalny’s associate, has been detained. The attackers were detained earlier. They are linked to football hooligan circles,” Tusk wrote.
Independent outlet The Insider said it had previously passed on the identity of a criminal from the Polish underworld to law enforcement in the country, thanks to which the Polish police were able to make an arrest. His handler, the Belarusian detainee, had links to the two Polish gangsters who had travelled to Lithuania at the time of Volkov’s attack.
“I don’t yet know any further details but I can say I have seen how tirelessly the Lithuanian police worked on this case over the past month, and I am very glad that has brought results,” he wrote.
Volkov after the attack. Photo: Ivan Zhdanov
Volkov was attacked on the evening of 12 March near his home in a residential area on the outskirts of Vilnius. Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh first reported the incident, saying that Volkov’s car window had been broken, and an attacker had sprayed tear gas in his eyes before beating him with a hammer.
Volkov suffered a broken arm and leg injuries in the attack, which Nausėda said had clearly been planned.
As well as serving as the chief of staff for Navalny’s 2018 presidential election campaign, Volkov was also chairman of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023.
