Navalny’s team and the Lithuanian authorities blamed the attack on Moscow, saying they believe it was a warning to the opposition as Russia prepares to vote this weekend in a rigged election in which Vladimir Putin is certain to be the winner.
“This was an obvious, typical, characteristic, St.-Petersburg-bandit-like hello from Putin,” Volkov said in a video after being discharged from the hospital. “Vladimir Vladimirovich: hello to you too.”
Senior officials in Vilnius are concerned.
“The aim of the operation was likely to curb Russian opposition activities related to the upcoming undemocratic Russian presidential elections,” Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) said in a statement Wednesday. The Kremlin has made no official comment about the attack.
Lithuanian authorities, opposition figures and some analysts have warned of attacks on dissidents as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags on. A month ago Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year, was found dead in Spain.
“The message is, if you choose to become an enemy of the motherland, then you can’t be surprised if the motherland deals with you,” said Mark Galeotti, head of the London-based Mayak Intelligence consultancy firm and a leading Russia expert.