by Andrius Sytas
VILNIUS, March 13 (Reuters) – Lithuanian police said on Wednesday they had opened an investigation into the attack on Leonid Volkov, the long-time aide to the recently deceased Russian opponent Alexei Navalny.
Leonid Volkov was attacked outside his Vilnius home on Tuesday with tear gas and a hammer, and suffered a broken arm, a bruised forehead and a leg injury, the former gate said -speech of Alexeï Navalny, Kira Yarmysh.
“Putin is not only killing people inside Russia, but also outside,” Leonid Volkov, who accuses the Kremlin of orchestrating the attack, told Reuters.
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“We are living in very dark times,” added the opponent, who returned from hospital on Wednesday.
Lithuanian police are devoting “enormous resources” to investigating the attack, Commissioner Renatas Pozela said on Wednesday.
An investigation was opened for “assault and battery”, a Lithuanian police spokesperson told Reuters, adding that no suspect had yet been identified.
Several police units, including anti-terrorism experts, investigated the crime scene in the northern suburbs of the Lithuanian capital overnight.
Leonid Volkov has sparked the wrath of Russian authorities on several occasions by organizing anti-Kremlin demonstrations from Vilnius and demanding the release of Alexei Navalny.
The US ambassador to Lithuania, Kara McDonald, said she was “shocked” by the attack.
“His resistance and courage (…) are a source of inspiration. Navalny’s team does not remain silent in the face of the Kremlin’s repression and brutality,” she said.
On Tuesday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called the incident shocking and said its perpetrators must “answer for their crime.” (Reporting Andrius Sytas, written by Stine Jacobsen, French version Correntin Chappron, edited by Kate Entringer)
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