Putin critic Navalny's former chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, attacked in Lithuania

Volkov, who is also a Russian opposition activist, was attacked on Tuesday near his house.

Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said, "Leonid Volkov has just been attacked outside his house. Someone broke a car window and sprayed tear gas in his eyes, after which the attacker started hitting Leonid with a hammer."

Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said that Volkov was attacked "near the house" and "they hit his legs with a hammer and hit his arms."

Images shared by Zhdanov showed Volkov with a swollen face and a bloodied leg, reported CNN.

Moreover, shattered glass and blood were seen next to a car in another picture.

Following the incident, Volkov was taken to the hospital, Zhdanov said in a social media post.

Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, in a post on X, said that the authorities are investigating the attack.

"Perpetrators will have to answer for their crime," Landsbergis said, describing the attack as "shocking."

The attack comes days before Russia's presidential election, CNN reported.

Volkov, who had served as chairman of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023, dismissed the elections in February as a "circus," saying that they were meant to signal Putin's overwhelming mass support.

"You need to understand what the March 'elections' mean for Putin. They are a propaganda effort to spread hopelessness" among the electorate, Volkov said.

Due to security reasons, Volkov has lived outside Russia for several years. However, in the past, he has faced multiple politically motivated charges in Russia, as reported by CNN.

Navalny, who was the most prominent Putin critic in Russia, died last month in a Russian prison, which has sparked condemnation from world leaders and accusations from his aides that he had been murdered.

However, the Kremlin denied any involvement in his death, as reported by CNN.

In recent years, Navalny's team and numerous other Russian activists have fled the country as Moscow's increasingly repressive regime cracked down on any opposition, according to CNN.

In 2021, a Moscow court said the Anti-Corruption Foundation was an "extremist" group, that was widely condemned by the international community. (ANI)