Lithuania Eyes 'Russian Special Services' In Volkov Probe

Vilnius, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Mar, 2024) Lithuania on Thursday said it suspects Russia's special services of involvement in the attack on Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov, as Vilnius decried an act of "political terrorism" and Washington a "terrible, brutal" assault.

Volkov, a close ally of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was briefly admitted to hospital after he was repeatedly struck with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania's capital Vilnius late on Tuesday.

Lithuanian intelligence had issued a statement saying that the attack was likely "organised by Russia" and now said that they suspected it had been carried out by a recruited local.

"It seems to be the work of the Russian special services, apparently done through some recruited person," intelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told reporters on Thursday.

He said that he could not disclose details of the ongoing investigation.

The attack came almost a month after Navalny's death in an Arctic prison, which Volkov blamed on Putin, and days before elections that look set to extend the Kremlin chief's stay in power.

Police refused to comment on what security arrangements had been made for Volkov either before or after the attack in Lithuania, which hosts many Russian and Belarusian opposition activists.

But Jauniskis urged "more attention" be paid to the protection of Russian opposition figures in Lithuania.

The head of the national crisis management centre, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, said that the Volkov attack was "professional, well-planned and that whoever carried it out was either well prepared or received very good instructions".

"This is the first time that such an incident of political aggression, of political terrorism, has happened on our soil," he told public radio.

The Baltic state's President Gitanas Nauseda said that Moscow's potential involvement should not come as a surprise.

"All of this adds up to a whole set of issues, incidents, where it is clear that such things are planned. We should not be surprised," he said.

"As for Putin, I can only say one thing: no one is afraid of you here," he added.

Asked about the comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said that "Putin should not be feared, but respected and listened to".

"We cannot comment (on what happened) in Lithuania," he added.