The attack on Russian dissident Leonid Volkov, a close ally of Oleksii Navalny, in Vilnius on Tuesday was professional and well-planned, the head of the Lithuanian government’s crisis center said on Thursday, Reuters and Agerpres reported, citing local media.

After the attack, Leonid Volkov was taken to the hospital by ambulancePhoto: Not provided / WillWest News / Profimedia

“The more we investigate, the clearer it becomes that the operation was professional, well planned,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas said, according to the BNS news agency.

The Kremlin on Thursday refused to comment on the incident. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday that the attack was clearly planned and that no one in Lithuania was afraid of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When asked about this remark, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin should not be feared, but “respected and listened to.”

After an attack with a hammer in front of his house, Leonid Volkov (43 years old) was briefly treated. Volkov’s wife, Anna Biryukova, published photos on social networks showing her husband’s injuries, including a bruised eye, a red spot on his forehead, and blood on his leg.

A government source in Vilnius told AFP that Volkov was discharged on Wednesday morning after doctors found he had “contusions in various parts of his body and a broken bone in one arm”.

“More serious injuries were avoided,” the source said.

Who is Leonid Volkov?

This attack happened almost a month after the death of Oleksii Navalny in the notorious colony, where he was sent to serve 19 years in prison for “extremism”.

Leonid Volkov, a prominent Russian opposition figure and Navalny’s former chief of staff, was among those who said President Vladimir Putin was responsible for his death.

Volkov, who settled in Lithuania after fleeing Russia, announced last year that he had decided to suspend his public activities as head of the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation after urging the European Union to lift sanctions against oligarch Mikhail Fridman, one of Russia’s richest men.

Volkov’s call caused a lot of controversy and was sharply criticized by Ukraine and other Russian opponents. Friedman lives in London, where he has been sanctioned by the British government and has lost several lawsuits against the measures taken against him.