Navalny aide Volkov attacked with hammer in Lithuania

Leonid Volkov, Alexei Navalny’s chief of staff, speaks during an interview in Vilnius, Lithuania September 5, 2022. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

VILNIUS — Late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s long-time aide Leonid Volkov was assaulted with a hammer in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Tuesday, former Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said.

“Volkov has just been attacked outside his house. Someone broke a car window and sprayed tear gas in his eyes, after which the attacker started hitting Leonid with a hammer,” she wrote on social media website X.

She posted images showing Volkov with a bruise on his forehead, blood coming from a leg wound, and a vehicle with damage to the driver’s door and window.

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Lithuania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who also leads Homeland Union, the ruling party, called the assault “shocking”.

“Perpetrators will have to answer for their crime”, he wrote on X.

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Lithuanian police said they had been informed a man was beaten outside his home, and were investigating.

Police fenced off a pine forest near Volkov’s house on Vilnius’ northern outskirts, and officers with dogs and flashlights were seen searching it late on Tuesday night.

A large part of Navalny’s political group, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which includes Volkov, are residing in European Union and NATO member Lithuania after fleeing Russia.