Hammer attack on Alexei Navalny’s right hand: “They wanted to make me schnitzel”

He may have “get out of the way” but Vladimir Putin and his followers won’t rest until they eliminate anything that reminds him. Thus, Leonid Volkov, a Russian dissident living in exile and former right hand of Alexei Navalni, became a target yesterday, Tuesday (12/03/2024), outside his home in Vilnius of violent attack, which the government of Lithuania described as “shocking”. Describing the attack Volkov said a man after throwing tear gas into his eyes, broke his car glass and hit him “about 15 times” with a hammer and added that he has suffered a fracture in the hand. “They really wanted to make me a schnitzel,” he denounced on Telegram. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis condemned the “socarist” as he said attack. Age 43, Volkov is one of the most important figures of the Russian opposition and he was a right hand of Navalny, who died under unclear circumstances on 16 February at the age of 47 in a Russian prison colony in the Arctic cycle where he served a 19-year sentence for “extremism”. The attack was confirmed by Lithuanian police but for now no arrests or imports have been made. After going to hospital emergency room, Volkov eventually returned home. “We are at home. Leonid’s hand has been broken, he cannot yet walk”, wrote his wife Anna Biriokova in H. She himself recovered photographs of Volkov’s wounds, in which she appears to have a black eye, a red mark on the forehead and blood on one of his feet. The Russian dissidents today appreciated that the attack he received is “characteristic” of the way Russian President Vladimir Putin’s men operate, but stressed that it would not stop him from fighting for democracy. “We will work and we will not retreat,” he stressed on Telegram. This attack occurred almost a month after Navalni died and a few days before the presidential election in Russia, held from Friday to Sunday and in which Putin is expected to be re-elected for another term, in the absence of an opponent. “Putin killed Navalny. And many other people before him,” Volkov had written on social media on Monday, who by 2023 was president of the anti-corruption institution founded by the dissidents. The point where the NATO member country attack took place, Lithuania hosts many self-exile Russians and is a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion. Danger to “kill us all” Russian dissidents, who have spoken against the Kremlin, often denounce threats and attacks. A few hours before yesterday’s attack, Volkov had stated to the independent Russian media Meduza that he is concerned about his safety after Navalny’s death. “The main danger now is to kill us all. For what reason, it is quite obvious,” he had pointed out. Volkov left Russia in 2019, as did other Navalni associates after the Russian investigation authorities launched an investigation into the dissident’s anti-corruption institution. Since 2021 he has been wanted by Russia’s justice for his role in organizing along with Navalni protests against the Russian authorities. After Putin’s main opponent died, Volkov had pledged that Navalni’s team “will not retreat” because “good always conquers evil”. He had even asked Navalni’s supporters “not to be discouraged (…) this is what they expect now (p. The Russian authorities) from us,” but added that “what he had dedicated his life to (Navalni) must win.”