Man accused of organizing attack on Navalny ally Volkov arrested in Poland – reports

A man accused of helping to organize attacks on allies of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been arrested in Poland, the independent news portal Sirena reported on Thursday, citing a letter from the Polish prosecutor's office.

Last week, Navalny's team published an investigation alleging that Leonid Nevzlin, an exiled billionaire and confidant of Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, orchestrated the assassination of Leonid Volkov in Lithuania earlier this year. Nevzlin was also accused of organizing attacks against Navalny's adviser Ivan Zhdanov in Switzerland and the wife of economist Maxim Mironov in Argentina.

Nevzlin denied being involved in “attacks on people in any form” and added: “The judiciary will confirm the absurdity and complete groundlessness of the accusations against me.”

According to Navalny's team, Nevzlin ordered the attack on Volkov through a lawyer named Anatoly Blinov. According to the independent investigative news portal Agentstvo, Blinov was formerly on the board of directors of Gazprom-Media and now lives in Poland.

Sirena, a media outlet founded by Navalny's allies, reported that Polish law enforcement authorities had arrested Blinov.

“Please note that Anatollii B. has been temporarily detained in the case conducted by the Mazovian Branch of the Organized Crime and Corruption Department of the National Prosecutor's Office,” said a letter published by the news agency.

The letter, signed by National Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Anna Adamiak, did not specify the date of Blinov's arrest.

The Moscow Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter, and Polish authorities have not yet officially commented on the reported arrest.

The accusations against Nevzlin have caused a major rift within the Russian opposition in exile. Prominent figures such as Khodorkovsky are defending Nevzlin. The internal dispute appears to be heading for court, although it is unclear exactly how this will end up, as Nevzlin lives in Israel and the crimes he is accused of were committed in several countries.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Monday that his country would seriously examine the allegations against Nevzlin.