Leonid Volkovcampaign manager of the deceased Russian opponent Alexei Navalny for the 2018 presidential elections, this Wednesday blamed the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, for the hammer attack who suffered on Tuesday in front of his home in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, in which he suffered various injuries to his leg, arm and face.

Volkov, who was hospitalized for a few hours before returning home, stated in a short video on his Telegram account that “it was obviously the typical gangster greeting from Putin“.

“We will continue our work. we will not give up“, he added. “I’m at home. Thank you very much for your words of support. It’s hard, but I will overcome it,” he said. “It has been emotional to read all that – in reference to the messages of support – and realize that I am still alive,” he highlighted, before detailing that the aggressor hit him 15 times in one leg and broke his arm.

“It hurts when I walk, but they say that there is no fracture“Detailed Volkov, who added that the injuries suffered “are not a matter of life or death.” “I am not prepared to make any comments other than the obvious one, which is that this was a typical Putin gangster salute,” he said. “Greetings to you too, Vladimir Vladimirovich,” he joked, referring to the Russian president by his name and patronymic.

“What more can I say? Take part in the campaign against Putin. “We need to do something, right?” he concluded, referring to the presidential elections that start this Friday in Russia, in which Putin aspires to a new mandate. Kira Yarmish, Navalny’s spokesperson and regular collaborator, stated after the attack on Volkov that the attacker “broke the window of his car and sprayed him with tear gas, after which he hit him with a hammer.”

For his part, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, described the aggression against Volkov as “shocking.” “The relevant authorities are working. The perpetrators will have to answer for their crime“, he indicated in a message on his account on the social network X.

The event took place about a month after the death of Navalni in a prison in the Russian Arctic where he was serving sentences for corruption and extremism. The opposition’s allies have directly accused Putin of his death, something that various Western countries have also done.