Russia: The enemy's enemy is not necessarily a friend – News

An investigation has shaken the Russian opposition in exile, plunging it even deeper into crisis.

Leonid Volkov had just parked in front of his house in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius when the attack happened: masked men smashed the window of the driver's seat, sprayed tear gas in Volkov's face and beat him with a hammer. Volkov was able to defend himself, whereupon the two attackers fled, but they left him with a broken arm.

The Kremlin was initially suspected of being responsible for the attack last March: Leonid Volkov was, after all, a close associate of the leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny. Navalny had died in Russian custody just a month earlier.

Was it an opposition member?

But now Navalny's research team has published a report that has shocked the Russian opposition: it is not the Kremlin that is behind the attack on Volkov, but another opposition figure: Leonid Nevslin. Nevslin, a billionaire businessman who now lives in Israel, is said to have also ordered attacks on other Kremlin deniers.

Nevslin made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s as a business partner of the oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Khodorkovsky soon signaled political ambitions, but the new Russian president, Vladimir Putin, cleaned up the oligarchs: Khodorkovsky was imprisoned for alleged fraud, Nevslin fled abroad. Since then, Nevslin has been a bitter, sometimes abusive opponent of Putin. He remains a friend of Khodorkovsky, who was released in 2013 and is much more statesmanlike than a Kremlin critic. Both bear full responsibility for the attack on Nevslin.

Difficult relationship despite common enemy

Whether the allegations are true or not, they are plunging the Russian liberal opposition in exile even deeper into crisis. It has always been paralyzed by trench warfare, which often takes place between camps far removed from Navalny and Khodorkovsky: for Khodorkovsky's generation, the Navalny people are nothing more than activists, for Navalny supporters, Khodorkovsky remains an oligarch who cannot reach ordinary Russians.

The joy after the release of several opposition figures imprisoned in Russia in August also quickly faded: the released heroes attracted attention with their unsuccessful public appearances; then Putin's opponents argued about data leaks and accused each other of working for the Kremlin. And Yulia Navalnaya has also not been able to replicate her husband Alexei's charisma since his death.

The Kremlin is pleased

No wonder the Kremlin media are rejoicing: the state broadcaster RT is also reporting on the Newslin case. And smugly quoted a Latvian political scientist: “The Russian opposition cannot be trusted; it should not exist as a political force.” If the EU and the USA finance the Russian opposition, they are wasting their money and their time.”