Reports emerged on Tuesday night that a close ally and top strategist of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny was assaulted near his home in Lithuania's capital. The assailant allegedly smashed a window of the ally's car, sprayed tear gas into his eyes, and proceeded to hit him with a hammer. The incident occurred in Vilnius, nearly a month after Navalny's death in a remote Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year prison term on politically motivated extremism charges.
Navalny, a prominent anti-corruption campaigner and Russia's leading opposition figure, had been imprisoned since January 2021 following his return to Moscow from Germany, where he was recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he attributed to the Kremlin. His Foundation for Fighting Corruption and network of regional offices were labeled as “extremist organizations” by the Russian government.
Navalny's sudden death on Feb. 16 sparked global outrage, with many opposition figures and Western leaders pointing fingers at the Kremlin, a claim vehemently denied by Moscow officials. His funeral in Moscow on March 1 drew thousands of supporters, showcasing rare defiance in Putin's Russia amidst a harsh crackdown on dissent.
Volkov, who previously oversaw Navalny's regional offices and election campaigns, left Russia under pressure from authorities. Last year, he led a project called “Navalny’s Campaigning Machine” aimed at engaging with Russians to sway them against Putin ahead of the presidential election.
Prior to his passing, Navalny had called on supporters to gather at polling stations at noon on the final day of voting to express discontent with the Kremlin. His allies actively promoted the strategy known as “Noon Against Putin” in the lead-up to the election.
