Leonid Volkov (politician)

Leonid Mikhailovich Volkov (Russian: Леони́д Миха́йлович Во́лков, IPA: [lʲɪɐˈnʲit mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ˈvolkəf]; born 10 November 1980) is a Russian politician who served as the chief of staff for opposition figure Alexei Navalny's campaign for the 2018 presidential election.[1] He was also the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023.

Leonid Volkov
Леонид Волков
Volkov in 2023
Member of the Central Council of the Progress Party
In office
December 15, 2012 – May 19, 2018
Deputy of the Yekaterinburg City Duma
In office
March 1, 2009 – September 2013
Personal details
Born (1980-11-10) November 10, 1980 (age 44)
Sverdlovsk, Soviet Union
Political partyRussia of the Future
Alma materUral State University
Signature
Websiteleonidvolkov.ru

From 1 March 2009 to September 2013, he served as a deputy of the Yekaterinburg City Duma. He also served as the chairman of the Central Election Committee created for elections to the Russian Opposition Coordination Council, and was the head of the campaign office of Alexei Navalny's campaign in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election. He is one of the founders of the Russia of the Future party, originally known as the People's Alliance.[2][3] He was a former chairman of the Sverdlovsk branch and a member of the Federal Political Council of the People's Freedom Party, and a member of the federal political council of the UDM Solidarnost.[4] He was a captain of the Russia-Ural team at the 10th International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT) in 1997,[5] a participant in the 2001 World Programming Championship, in which he took 14th place (bronze medals) as part of the Ural State University team.[6][7][8]

Biography

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Leonid Volkov was born on 10 November 1980 in Sverdlovsk (present-day Yekaterinburg) in the Sverdlovsk Oblast of the Soviet Union. His father is Mikhail Vladimirovich Volkov, professor, Chief Researcher of the Laboratory of Combinatorial Algebra, Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University.[9] His mother is Susanna Borisovna Volkova (Kupchik), Senior Lecturer of the Department of New Information Technologies in Education, Ural State Pedagogical University.[10] Volkov is Jewish;[11] on official documents, however, his ethnicity is shown as Russian.[12][clarification needed]

On March 1, 2009, he was elected as a deputy of the Yekaterinburg City Duma in the electoral district No. 10 of the Kirovsky district (self-nomination).[13] He became a member of the permanent parliamentary commission on urban economy, urban planning and land use and of the permanent deputy commission on local government, cultural and information policy.[14]

In 2013 he moved with his family from Yekaterinburg to Luxembourg.[15] He returned to Russia at the end of 2014.[16]

Since 2020 Volkov has been living and working in Vilnius the capital of Lithuania.[17][18]

On 4 October 2022 his book Putinland was published.[19]

Political activities

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Since 2009 — a member of the Solidarnost movement. On April 10, 2010, he organized a rally against the construction of a temple on Labour Square [ru] in Yekaterinburg — the event gathered more than 3,500 participants and became the largest protest action in the city since perestroika. On October 24, 2010, he was one of the organizers of the rally in support of Yegor Bychkov [ru].[20]

He is a member of the central election committee of the Russian Opposition Coordination Council and was one of the leaders of Navalny's 2013 mayoral campaign for Moscow.[21][22] He was formerly a member of the political council of the People's Freedom Party.[23] From December 2016, Volkov was chief of staff to Alexei Navalny's 2018 presidential campaign.

On 9 March 2023, Volkov stepped down as the chairman of the board of the Anti-Corruption Foundation after he had admitted to signing a letter on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Foundation in October which asked the European Union for sanctions on Mikhail Fridman to be dropped without consulting his associates.[24] He was replaced with Maria Pevchikh.[25]

Attack

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On 12 March 2024, Meduza reported that Volkov was attacked by a person with a hammer outside his house in Vilnius, Lithuania.[26] According to Navalny press secretary Kira Yarmysh, tear gas was sprayed in Volkov's eyes and he was beaten repeatedly with a hammer. The politician and lawyer Ivan Zhdanov told the media that Volkov survived the attack, which is being investigated as political terror.[27] In his first interview following the attack, Volkov stated that he would "never give up" his struggle against Putin.[28]

Lithuanian authorities said they suspected Russian special services of responsibility. In September 2024, associates of Navalny said they had obtained evidence that Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian-Israeli billionaire and former co-owner of Yukos, had ordered the attack and failed to pay $250,000 to those he hired to carry it out. Nevzlin denied the accusations, suggesting that it was "concocted in Moscow".[29] That same month, a Russian lawyer and former Gazprom-Media director accused of helping organise the attack was arrested in Poland.[30]

References

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  1. ^ Balyuk, Olga (2018-01-28). ""Забастовку избирателей" в Екатеринбурге будет вести Леонид Волков" ["Voter strike" in Yekaterinburg will be led by Leonid Volkov]. znak.com (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2018-03-22. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  2. ^ "Соратники Навального создадут партию без него" [Navalny's associates will create a party without him]. Lenta.ru (in Russian). 2012-06-26. Archived from the original on 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  3. ^ "Электронная партия" [Electronic Party]. Lenta.ru (in Russian). 2012-08-06. Archived from the original on 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  4. ^ "Леонид Волков | Солидарность" [Leonid Volkov | Solidarity]. Solidarnost (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2012-09-25. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  5. ^ Martchenko, Ilya. "IYPT Archive". archive.iypt.org. International Young Physicists' Tournament. Archived from the original on 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  6. ^ "Northern Eurasia Contests". neerc.ifmo.ru. International Collegiate Programming Contest. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  7. ^ "Биография Волкова Леонида Михайловича" [Biography of Volkov Leonid Mikhailovich]. egd.ru. Екатеринбургская городская дума. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
  8. ^ "2001 ACM ICPC World Finals Result". Association for Computing Machinery. Vancouver. 2001-03-10. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  9. ^ "Волков Михаил Владимирович - Известные ученые" [Volkov Mikhail Vladimirovich - Famous scientists]. famous-scientists.ru. 2010-05-01. Archived from the original on 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  10. ^ Navalny, Alexei (2020-01-22). "Справка на Леонида Волкова @leonidvolkov из уголовного дела "об отмывании денег ФБК". Акцентируют внимание на главном!" [Help on Leonid Volkov @leonidvolkov from the criminal case "about money laundering of FBK". They focus on the main thing!]. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  11. ^ Novaya Gazeta (2021-01-27). "The Navalny I Know". Mishpacha. Archived from the original on 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  12. ^ "Леонид Волков появился в базе розыска МВД после возбуждения нового дела". Rusmonitor. 2021-09-28. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  13. ^ Kantor, Polina (2022-07-21). "Nawalnys rechte Hand". Jüdische Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 2024-10-14.
  14. ^ "Волков Леонид Михайлович" [Volkov Leonid Mikhailovich]. egd.ru. Екатеринбургская городская дума. Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  15. ^ Volkov, Leonid (2014-10-14). "Люксембург: локальная политическая повестка" [Luxembourg: local political agenda]. leonwolf.livejournal.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2021-01-26 – via LiveJournal.
  16. ^ Ezhov, Andrey; Kryuchkov, Stanislav (2018-01-15). "Леонид Волков — Разбор полета" [Leonid Volkov - Debriefing]. Echo of Moscow (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2019-10-29. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  17. ^ Rosenbach, Marcel (21 August 2020). "'Auf einmal gaben die in den grauen Anzügen die Diagnose vor". Ausland (in German). Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2023. SPIEGEL: Waren Sie schon in Deutschland, als Sie von Nawalnys kritischem Gesundheitszustand erfahren haben?
    Wolkow: Nein, ich war in Vilnius, wo ich wohne.
  18. ^ "Wenn aus Putin plötzlich ein Opfer wird – der bizarre Auftritt von Sahra Wagenknecht bei Markus Lanz". stern.de (in German). 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
  19. ^ "Verlag Droemer Knaur". Droemer Knaur (in German). Retrieved 2024-10-14.
  20. ^ Nekrasov, Ivan (2010-10-25). "Митинг в поддержку Егора Бычкова: чиновников призвали к покаянию" [Rally in support of Yegor Bychkov: officials called for repentance]. justmedia.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2010-11-26. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  21. ^ Политика: Соратники Навального создадут партию без него Archived 2017-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. Lenta. Published 26 July 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2017. (in Russian)
  22. ^ Lenta.ru: Политика: Электронная партия Archived 2017-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. Published 6 August 2012. Retrieved 3 May 207. (in Russian)
  23. ^ О всякой всячине — Дела партийные (и личные тоже) Archived 2018-02-16 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  24. ^ "Aide to Russia's Navalny steps aside in furore over sanctions letter to EU". Reuters. 9 March 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  25. ^ "Maria Pevchikh to Replace Leonid Volkov as Head of Navalny Foundation Board". The Moscow Times. 22 March 2023. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Navalny associate Leonid Volkov reportedly attacked outside his home in Lithuania". Meduza. 12 March 2024. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  27. ^ Sonne, Paul (13 March 2024). "Top Navalny Aide Attacked With Hammer Outside Home in Lithuania". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  28. ^ Kuenssberg, Laura (18 May 2024). "Attacked Navalny ally will 'never give up' fight". BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  29. ^ "Team Navalny Accuses Ex-Khodorkovsky Partner of Ordering Hammer Attack on Volkov". The Moscow Times. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  30. ^ "Man Accused of Organizing Attack on Navalny Ally Volkov Arrested in Poland – Reports". The Moscow Times. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
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