A man accused of helping organize attacks on allies of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was detained in Poland, the independent news outlet Sirena reported Thursday, citing a letter from the Polish Prosecutor’s Office.
Last week, Navalny’s team published an investigation claiming that Leonid Nevzlin, an exiled billionaire and associate of Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, orchestrated the attack on Leonid Volkov in Lithuania earlier this year. Nevzlin was also accused of organizing attacks against Navalny aide Ivan Zhdanov in Switzerland and the wife of economist Maxim Mironov in Argentina.
Nevzlin has denied having involvement in “any attacks on people, in any form whatsoever,” adding that “justice will confirm the absurdity and complete baselessness of the accusations against me.”
According to Navalny’s team, Nevzlin allegedly ordered the attack on Volkov through a lawyer by the name of Anatoly Blinov. According to the independent investigative news outlet Agentstvo, Blinov once served on Gazprom-Media’s board of directors and now lives in Poland.
Sirena, an outlet founded by Navalny allies, reported that Polish law enforcement authorities detailed Blinov.
“Please be informed that Anatollii B. is under temporary arrest in the case conducted by the Mazovian Division of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office,” a letter published by the news outlet read.
The letter, signed by National Public Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Anna Adamiak, did not specify the date of Blinov’s arrest.
The Moscow Times could not independently verify the letter’s authenticity, and Polish authorities have not officially commented on the reported arrest.
The accusations against Nevzlin have caused a major rift within Russia’s exiled opposition, with prominent figures, including Khodorkovsky, coming to Nevzlin’s defense. The infighting appears headed for the courts, though it is unclear how exactly it will proceed, as Nevzlin resides in Israel and the alleged crimes occurred in multiple countries.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Monday that his country would seriously consider the claims against Nevzlin.
