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Leonid Volkov: “His car window was smashed and tear gas was sprayed into his eyes”
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Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Leonid Volkov, former chief of staff of the late Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, was attacked with a hammer near his home in Lithuania, according to his spokeswoman Kyra Yarmysh.
»His car window was smashed and tear gas was sprayed into his eyes, after which the attacker began hitting Leonid with a hammer.
Leonid is now at home, the police and ambulance are on the way to him,” said Yarmysch, describing the incident on Platform X.
Volkov's wife Anna Biryukova posted photos on the platform showing her husband with a bloody shin and a gash on his head.
"Leonid was attacked in the courtyard of his house," she wrote.
The background to the attack is unclear.
However, according to the online portal Meduza, which is critical of the Kremlin, journalist Sergei Parchomenko pointed out that Volkov lives in a somewhat remote village.
The perpetrator could therefore hardly be a random street hooligan or robber, said Parchomenko.
"This is a person who went there to attack Volkov."
Lithuanian police said they had been informed that a man had been beaten outside his home, according to Reuters.
The officials have started investigations.
Volkov is considered one of Navalny's closest confidants and, together with the liberal opposition, is calling for protests in the presidential elections in Russia.
One of Navalny's last ideas before his death was to consistently circumvent possible restrictions on demonstrations through a joint action by all Putin opponents: According to his proposal, all protesters should go to the polling station at the same time on Sunday, March 17th - and there for “all candidates except Putin” vote.
sol/Reuters