United States condemns “brutal” attack in Lithuania by Navalny’s ally Russian rival

John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein)

The United States government spoke about the “brutal” attack carried out by the Russian adversary this Thursday leonid volkovPoliticians close to the recently deceased leader Alexey NavalnyIn Vilnius, where he has been exiled due to Kremlin persecution.

“We are very concerned about this attack,” he said. John KirbyThe White House National Security Council spokesman said that the information that has come to light about the attack on Volkov in Lithuania, “They are brutal and incredibly violent.”

The US official said the Russian rival was a “strong critic of the Kremlin”.

Volkov, considered Navalny’s ‘right-hand man’, was attacked with a hammer on Tuesday as he arrived at his home on the outskirts of Vilnius.

According to local media and Volkov’s own account, He was hit several times with a hammer, gas was sprayed and his arm was broken.

In a video published on Telegram, the rival directly accused Russia of being behind the attack: “It is clear that this is a criminal, specific greeting, characteristic of Putin, criminal St. Petersburg (…) Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin’s patron ), I also send my best wishes to you,” he said.

Leonid Volkov was attacked in Lithuania, where he was exiled due to persecution by the Russian regime.

Describing the moment of the attack, he said: “They wanted to make a steak of me. A person sitting on the ground in the courtyard of the house hit my leg about 15 times with a meat hammer. For some reason the leg was left intact.”

“We will continue our work. “we will not give up”Volkov added.

Navalny’s former spokesperson, Kira Yarmish, noted that Volkov was attacked in a car “in front of his house”. “Someone broke the car window and sprayed tear gas in his eyes, after which the attacker started hitting Leonid with a hammer,” he wrote on the social network X.

The Kremlin, for its part, refrained from commenting on this Thursday’s incident, maintaining that it cannot comment on incidents that have taken place in other countries.

“We are talking about an incident that happened in Lithuania. “We cannot comment in any way on what is happening to people in Lithuania,” the Russian presidential spokesman said. Dmitry Peskovwho noted that these questions “probably” should be asked of the Foreign Ministry and the Lithuanian police.

Likewise, he assured that “there is no need to fear Putin.” After Volkov and Lithuanian officials pointed to the responsibility of Russian officials in the attack, he commented, “Putin must be respected and listened to.”

Subsequently, Lithuanian intelligence services He considered it “likely” that Russian officials carried out the attack. And he linked it to an effort to “prevent the implementation of opposition projects in view of the next non-democratic presidential elections.”

Former Russian deputy after what happened Gennady Gudkov He called on European governments on Wednesday to guarantee the security of the opposition in exile. “A hunt has been announced against the most prominent representatives of Russia in exile (…) A group should be created to guarantee the safety of these people,” he told the agency. efe In a telephone conversation from Bulgaria.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov avoided commenting on the attack against Leonid Volkov in Lithuania (Sergey Bobylev)

Gudkov, who worked in security bodies before entering politics, condemned that the Federal Security Service (FSB) has created a special department to “counteract” the influence of opponents abroad, whom the Kremlin considers “enemies”. Believes.

According to the source, the decision to move toward the “physical liquidation of the opposition” began with the poisoning of a Russian journalist in Berlin in August. Yelena Kostyuchenko, and continued the “reprehensible murder” of a Russian pilot in February, Maxim KuzminovWho left and settled in Spain.

“The attack against Volkov will be part of that series. Unfortunately, I do not think this is the last attempt by the network of Russian agents,” he said.

The attack came nearly a month after Navalny’s death in a prison in the Russian Arctic, where he was serving a sentence for corruption and extremism. Opposition allies have directly blamed Putin for his death, as have various Western countries.

Volkov, 43, is one of the most prominent figures in the Russian opposition as chairman until 2023 of the anti-corruption foundation founded by Navalny’s former chief of staff and Putin’s main rival.

(With information from EFE and Europa Press)

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