VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) 鈥 Two men have been detained in Poland on suspicion that they attacked Russian activist Leonid Volkov 鈥 an ally of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny 鈥 on the orders of foreign intelligence services, officials said Friday.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later said on the social platform X that the two Polish 鈥渁ssassins鈥 are under arrest, as well as a Belarusian working for Russia who had ordered the Poles to 鈥渁ssassinate鈥 a Navalny associate. He said the Poles were linked to extremist soccer fan circles.
on March 12 outside his home in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, where he lives in exile. The attacker smashed one of his car鈥檚 windows, sprayed tear gas into his eyes and hit him with a hammer, police said at the time.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus臈da announced the arrest of two people to reporters in Vilnius and thanked Poland for its work.
鈥淭wo people have been detained in Poland on suspicion of beating Russian opposition leader Leonid Volkov. I thank the Republic of Poland for the excellent work it has done. I have discussed this with the Polish president and thanked them for their excellent cooperation,鈥 Naus臈da said.
Both suspects are Polish citizens previously known to police in their homeland. They traveled to Vilnius before the attack on Volkov and returned to Warsaw afterward, according to Lithuania鈥檚 deputy police chief, Saulius Briginas.
He said they were detained on April 3 in an operation in which Lithuanian police participated.
Lithuania expects them to be handed over in May, chief prosecutor Justas Laucius told reporters. If convicted on charges of causing bodily harm, they face up to three years in prison.
In Poland, Joanna Adamowicz, the spokesperson for a Warsaw court, said that the two men were put under arrest until May 13, on suspicion that 鈥渢hey had organized on the territory of the Lithuanian Republic an assault and caused damage to the health of Russian citizen L. W.," while 鈥渂eing active in an organized group and carrying out the orders of the special services of an alien country.鈥
Volkov's last name is spelled with a 鈥淲鈥 in Polish.
The court in Warsaw's Praga district has decided to hand them over to Lithuania for the purpose of a criminal investigation, on the condition that they would serve any potential punishment in Poland, Adamowicz said in an email to The Associated Press.
Their lawyers have lodged complaints and the files have been sent to the Appeals Court in Warsaw, she said. It was not immediately clear how long the appeals could take.
Poland's Central Investigation Bureau of Police confirmed that its officers worked with Lithuanian police to arrest two people suspected of an attack on a Russian opposition activist in Lithuania in March.
The developments came a day after of a Polish man suspected of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia鈥檚 military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine鈥檚 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
鈥淭here will be no leniency whatsoever for collaborators of the Russian services," Poland's Tusk said, referring to both cases.
Volkov said on X, formerly Twitter, that he didn鈥檛 know the details of the arrest, but 鈥渟aw how energetically and persistently the Lithuanian police have worked over the past month on this case鈥 and was 鈥渧ery glad that this work has paid off.鈥
鈥淎s for the details, we will find them out soon. Can鈥檛 wait to find out!鈥 Volkov wrote.
Volkov suffered a broken arm in the brutal attack and was hospitalized. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 鈥渉enchmen鈥 at the time of responsibility in the attack and his opposition work.
The attack took place nearly a month after Navalny鈥檚 unexplained death in a remote Arctic penal colony. He was and Putin鈥檚 fiercest critic. Navalny had and was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism widely .
Opposition figures and Western leaders laid the blame on the Kremlin for his death 鈥 something officials in Moscow vehemently rejected.
Navalny's funeral in the Russian capital on March 1 drew thousands of supporters, a rare show of defiance in Putin鈥檚 Russia amid an unabating and ruthless crackdown on dissent. Navalny's widow, Yulia,
Volkov used to be in charge of Navalny鈥檚 regional offices and election campaigns. He ran for mayor of Moscow in 2013 and sought to challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential election. Volkov left Russia several years ago under pressure from the authorities.
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Scislowska reported from Warsaw, Poland.
