Adjutant Navalny Worries About His Safety And Disposal Residents Hours Before The Attack

Leonid Volkov was rushed to hospital. (Twitter/@taamnavalny)

JAKARTA - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Leonid Volkov, is concerned about his safety and other exiles, hours before attacks with tear gas and hammers against him outside his residence in Lithuania.

The leaders of Navalny's organization know they are facing a "high individual risk," Leonid Volkov said in an interview filmed on Tuesday, hours before an unidentified striker attacked him outside the home.

"They know that Putin not only killed the people inside Russia, he also killed people outside Russia," he said.

"We live in a very dark time," he said.

Lithuania accused Moscow of being behind the attack. Meanwhile, Volkov blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"This is clearly a typical criminal 'halo' remark from Putin, from a Petersburgn criminal," Volkov wrote on Telegram.

"We will continue to work and we will not give up," he said.

There has been no immediate comment from Moscow regarding the incident.

Volkov is an old aide loyal to Russia's late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. He received a hammer attack on Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Tuesday, a former spokesman for Navalny, Kira Yarmysh said.

"Volkov has just been attacked outside his house. Someone broke the car window and sprayed tear gas into his eyes, after which the attacker started hitting Leonid with a hammer," he wrote on social media X

In an interview with Reuters hours before the attack, Volkov said the death of Navalny last month in Arctic prison had inspired his supporters to ensure his sacrifice was not in vain.

" Alexei's death is a very sad loss, and it is a bloody wound to our hearts, but of course it produces a lot of energy, a lot of political momentum," he said.

"It is our duty and responsibility to turn this energy into a meaningful political action that will make Putin weaker," he said.

Navalny's followers believe he was killed in prison by Russian authorities. Meanwhile, Moscow says he died of natural causes.

Volkov said he received a boost from the first steps taken by Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, to take over her husband's role, and from tens of thousands of people who took the risk of being arrested if they came to Moscow to attend his funeral.

Nevertheless, he said, Navalny's death was a crushing blow.

"The situation is very bad. It cannot be underestimated, there are no other Navalny, no Navalny left, no one else like him," said Volkov.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who also leads the ruling party Homeland Union, called the attack "surprising".

"The perpetrator must be held accountable for his crime," he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian police said they had been told a man was beaten outside his home, and immediately launched an investigation.

Police fenced off a pine forest near Volkov's house on the northern outskirts of Vilnius. Officers with dogs and flashlights were seen searching him on Tuesday night.

It is known that most of Navalny's political group, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, including Volkov, chose to stay in Lithuania which is a member of the European Union and NATO, after fleeing Russia.