Russian Opposition Leader Navalny's Widow Hires Bodyguards After Hammer Attack On Her Late Husband's Allies

Yulia Navalnaya. (Wikimedia Commons/belgium24.eu)

JAKARTA - The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, said in an interview with Time magazine published on Wednesday that she had hired bodyguards after the hammer attack on her late husband's allies.

"We have thought of several new security protocols. To be honest, I don't really like traveling with bodyguards," Navalnaya told Time, quoted by Reuters, April 18.

An assailant wielding a hammer attacked Leonid Volkov, an aide to Navalny, outside his home in Vilnius, Lithuania, in March. His arm was broken and his leg was hit with a series of blows.

Yulia Navalnaya, who lives outside Russia and has said she will continue her husband's opposition to President Vladimir Putin, said the incident had prompted her to step up her personal security measures.

"Alexei and I have never had security, and I think I inherited some of that courage, that arrogance from Alexei. But if you are too arrogant, you can take the wrong steps. So, for now, my colleagues ask me to walking with bodyguards," she explained.

"We don't know what will happen next, and taking risks like that is definitely not a good idea," said Yulia

Navalny, President Putin's most prominent domestic critic, died in February in an Arctic prison. Russian authorities, who banned Navalny's movements as extremist, said he died of natural causes. His followers believe he was killed by the authorities, but the Kremlin denies this.

Lithuania's counter-intelligence agency accused Russian intelligence services of being behind the attack. The Kremlin declined to comment, but said people should respect and listen to President Vladimir Putin, rather than fear him.