The team of the killed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has accused Russian-Israeli billionaire Leonid Nevzlin of orchestrating an attack on Navalny's ally, Leonid Volkov. 

On March 12, Volkov, former chief of staff to Navalny and chair of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), was attacked outside his residence in Lithuania with tear gas and a hammer. The Polish authorities arrested three individuals in connection with the incident, while Lithuanian officials have suggested possible involvement by Russian special services. However, Navalny's team has claimed it has evidence implicating Nevzlin in the attack, as well as a number of other attacks on other Navalny allies, including FBK director Ivan Zhdanov and economist Maxim Mironov’s wife, Alexandra Petrashkova.

Nevzlin is the former co-owner of Yukos, an oil company that was also owned by famous Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Nevzlin left Russia for Israel in 2003, and set up a media empire in the country, which included the takeover of Haaretz, Israel’s longest running newspaper currently in print. In May 2024, he renounced his Russian citizenship, famously calling the population “Russian slave cattle.”

According to Navalny’s team, Nevzlin allegedly ordered Volkov’s kidnapping and beating. It is alleged that he then refused to pay the promised $250,000 after the attack, as Volkov had not been beaten up badly enough. This then led to a dispute, which eventually led to Navalny’s team being told about the attack.

Maria Pevchikh, head of FBK International, reported that the Navalny team received an anonymous offer from someone who had details about the attack on Volkov. The offer came from a man named Andrey Matus, a middleman with alleged connections to authorities. Matus, who claims to have worked for Khodorkovsky in the past, arranged a meeting with a number of members of FBK in Montenegro. At this meeting, Matus explained that he was responsible for retrieving the assailants phones following the attack. During this meeting, he allegedly played a recording of his conversation with Nevzlin, which confirmed the details of the attack on Volkov and other opposition figures.

The information also included other plans, including an initial scheme to kidnap Volkov in Lithuania and transport him to Russia. However, this plan faltered, leading to a second attempt to attack Volkov in the US. Ultimately, Volkov was assaulted in Vilnius, suffering from multiple injuries. Despite the attack’s completion, Nevzlin was reportedly dissatisfied with the results, expressing frustration over the severity of Volkov’s injuries. This dissatisfaction led to accusations and counterclaims between Nevzlin and his associates, culminating in Matus seizing and handing over phones used in the attack organisation to FBK.

The situation then took a turn when Matus disappeared after learning that Navalny's team would not pay him for the evidence. Soon after, the same information surfaced on the Kremlin-supported Russia Today. 

Nevzlin has strongly denied any involvement in the attacks, dismissing the allegations as unfounded and politically driven. He called for an independent investigation and expressed confidence that a fair judicial process would clear him of any wrongdoing. He accused Moscow of being behind the evidence.