Leonid Volkov

During a press conference at his campaign headquarters, Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed that the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny would have been part of a prisoner exchange with the West. Putin indicated that a deal involving Navalny had been agreed upon before his death, with a crucial condition that Navalny would not return to Russia.

Leonid Volkov, a prominent ally of Alexei Navalny, was viciously attacked outside his home in Lithuania. The incident, which occurred late last night in Vilnius, saw Volkov targeted with a hammer and tear gas, leaving him injured and shaken.

Leonid Volkov, a close ally of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was assaulted outside his home in Vilnius on Tuesday, an incident that sparked an uproar from the Lithuanian government.

Volkov vowed to continue his struggle against President Vladimir Putin in a video posted on Telegram early Wednesday after he was discharged from hospital.

 Moscow city court on Wednesday declared extremist political organizations of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and banned them.

The court upheld the Moscow prosecutor's office's call for extremism and a ban on the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), the Civil Rights Protection Fund (FZPG) and the Navalny Headquarters.

Russia has issued an arrest warrant that covers a swath of other former Soviet republics for one of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's closest allies, a Moscow court said on Wednesday.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained by police on Thursday but then released a short while later, weeks ahead of a presidential election in which he has been barred from running, writes Reuters.

Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called US Department of State's reaction on the Russian Central Election Commission's decision not to accept documents of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who wanted to run for president, an interference in the Russian presidential election.

The campaign of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the Russian province before the presidential elections in the spring is bordering civil disobedience, Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.