Leonid Volkov, a top adviser to Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, said on Thursday he was resigning as head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation following calls from the European Union to lift sanctions against one of Russia’s richest men, Reuters reported.

The scandal erupted after well-known journalist Oleksiy Venediktov, whom Navalny’s team accused of being a puppet of the Kremlin, in February published a letter signed by Volkov and other oppositionists calling on the EU to lift sanctions against oligarch Mykhailo Fridman and his associates in the Alpha Group empire. .

Volkov said his signature on the document had been photoshopped, but revealed he had sent a similar letter to EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell last October.

“This letter was a big political mistake,” Volkov said, adding that he exceeded his duties and let his colleagues down.

What was said in Volkov’s letter to Borrell

In an October letter, Volkov called on the EU to significantly increase the number of Russians under sanctions and to facilitate the lifting of sanctions if they publicly denounce the war in Ukraine and renounce Putin.

In particular, he advocated the lifting of sanctions against Friedman of Ukrainian origin, calling him a liberal who has always distanced himself from Putin.

Friedman has been in the shadows since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, but said at the start of the conflict that it would harm both nations and called for an end to hostilities.

Volkov’s position became uncomfortable when Venediktov revealed that Volkov was secretly lobbying for the interests of one of Russia’s leading “oligarchs.”

In a series of tweets, Volkov said he was wrong to believe his approach could “trigger a chain reaction of public condemnation of the war and division of Russian elites.”

According to him, that is why he decided to “terminate” his public activity as the president of the Navalny Foundation for Combating Corruption. He said that he will meet with his colleagues soon and decide whether and how they can continue to cooperate.

On Thursday, several opposition figures came to Volkov’s defense.

“Don’t go into the shadows. Don’t give Venediktov and Putin a reason for such joy,” urged St. Petersburg municipal councilor Ksenia Torstrom.

Several prominent opposition figures fled Russia after Navalny was jailed in 2021. Navalny, Western governments and rights groups say his detention is unjustified and the charges fabricated to silence him.

Now living in Lithuania, Volkov appears frequently on the YouTube channel owned by Navalny, who has published numerous investigations into Russian corruption and condemned the war in Ukraine. However, it is not known where Friedman is now.