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March 13 (UPI) -- Leonid Volkov, the former chief of staff of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was injured in a hammer attack outside his home in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Volkov said he suffered a broken arm and a bloodied leg after the unknown assailant set on him with a hammer. He was also pepper sprayed in the attack which took place Tuesday evening as he pulled up in his car at his home in the city.
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Volkov said the incident was politically motivated calling it "an obvious, typical, gangster greeting from Putin, from bandit St. Petersburg."
The 43-year-old, who served as chairman of Nalvany's Anti-Corruption Foundation until last year, is wanted in Russia for inciting people to demonstrate for the release of Navalny after he was arrested in January 2021 on his return from Germany where he had traveled to receive life-saving treatment following suspected poisoning with a nerve agent.
Volkov is also on Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service's "terror" list of individuals authorities believe are engaged in activities that support "terrorist or extremist" groups as defined by Moscow.
Sharing graphic pictures of his injuries on social media Anna Biryukova, Volkov's wife, said he was attacked in the quadrangle of their property.
"Leonid was attacked in the courtyard of the house. They crashed the car. They hit him with a hammer. Sprayed him in the eyes," she wrote in a post on X.
"We're home from the hospital. Leonid's arm is broken and he is still unable to walk due to a severe bruise from blows with a hammer.
"The choice between running to your husband who was attacked or not leaving your sleeping children alone is disgusting, I wouldn't wish it on anyone," Biryukova said.
Biryukova, who is also a member of team Navalny, pledged anger over what had been done to Volkov would only serve to motivate the whole movement to work even harder.
Police are investigating but have no firm leads so far, according to the country's deputy commissioner of police.
"Several theories have been put forward, and when it becomes clearer, we will be able to provide more information," Saulijus Tamulevicius said on Lithuanian National Radio.
The incident comes two days before 114 million Russians head to the polls in a presidential election in which Navalny's widow has called on voters to engage in protest voting to try to block Putin from sweeping to victory and a third consecutive term.
In a video posted on social media last week, Yulia Navalnaya urged Russians to form long lines at polling stations at noon on Sunday, the final day of voting in the election, in a show of the depth of opposition, and that once inside they should vote for "any candidate except Putin", or spoil their ballot paper.
Navalny, 47, died suddenly Feb. 16 in an Arctic prison colony where he was serving consecutive 9-year and 19-year sentences for contempt of court and embezzlement and inciting and financing extremism, prompting outrage from Western capitals led by U.S. President Joe Biden who said responsibility for his death fell squarely on Putin and his government.
