Dissidents call on West to combat Kremlin attacks
Russian dissidents in the UK and Europe have called on Western governments to adopt security measures to combat Kremlin operations abroad after a series of attacks on regime opponents across the Continent.
Leonid Volkov, former chairman of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), was badly injured after being attacked with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania on Tuesday night. Mr Volkov described the assault as a “typical gangster greeting from Putin”. Lithuanian officials also blamed Moscow.
The attack, soon after the death of Mr Navalny in suspicious circumstances, was the latest of several recent attacks on Kremlin opponents living abroad.
Spanish authorities said Russia was responsible for the murder of Russian defector Maksim Kuzminov last month.
Russian anti-regime journalists Natalia Arno, Elena Kostyuchenko, and Irina Babloyan have been victims of suspected poisoning attacks in Czechia, Germany, and Georgia over the past 18 months.
Russian authorities say opposition leader Mr Navalny died in an Arctic prison of natural causes.
Russia’s foreign intelligence chief did not deny involvement in Mr Kuzminov’s death, stating: “This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse already at the moment when he was planning his dirty and terrible crime.”
The Kremlin has not publicly commented on the other cases but typically denies involvement in such attacks.
Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist now based in London who has extensively covered the Kremlin’s security services, is in no doubt that the regime is escalating operations targeting dissidents.
“There is a clear escalation,” he said. “It’s partly a result of increasing activities of Russian intelligence agencies evident since 2023, and partly a response to the Kremlin’s paranoia before the presidential election in Russia [taking place this Friday to Sunday], which the Krem
Russian agencies… have a belief that they are in the third round of a centurylong fight with the West
lin and the agencies see as a crisis which could be used by hostile forces to undermine political stability.”
He said the regime has increasingly used foreign proxies to compensate for the expulsion of Russian agents after the invasion of Ukraine, and that Western governments have failed to recognise the full extent of Russian infiltration.
“They need to understand that the threat is serious and that Russian intelligence agencies are perfectly capable of operating on their soil,” he said. “Russian agencies have found a new sense of purpose: they have a belief that they are in the third round of a century-long fight with the West.”
Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speechwriter, said the attack on Mr Volkov was a statement of intent to dissidents and the countries that host them.
“The message to both the opposition and the West is quite clear,” he said. “Everyone is in danger.”
Daniil Ken, head of the Teachers’ Alliance trade union affiliated to the Navalny network, now living abroad, said the attack on Mr Volkov was “disturbing for many reasons”.
“It shows again that Putin has no restrictions on ordering attacks in Europe. And the Europeans do not have the ability, strength and sometimes the will to stop the work of Putin’s special services,” he said.
“All the top officials of Alexei Navalny’s team are at high risk. As well as all the public speakers abroad who create personal problems for Putin.”
Mr Ken urged foreign government to do more to protect prominent dissidents and combat Kremlin agents at a time of heightened threat.
“European countries should provide home security and maybe even personal protection to those opponents of Putin who are ready to accept it,” he said.
Ekaterina Schulmann, a Russian political scientist, suggested that the Kremlin is increasingly disguising attacks by using criminal gangs in foreign countries, rather than its own personnel.
“The dangerous countries are not those where the government is more or less pro-Russian, but those where organised crime feels more free – in other words, where the local gangsters live freely, as in Spain and probably in the Baltic States,” she wrote on messaging app Telegram.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. Anyone who believes that a crime has been committed or is concerned for their safety should contact the police.”