Stock photo: Getty Images
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda says remarks made by Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov about Ukrainian soldiers and officials are reminiscent of the language used by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
Source: Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Nausėda described the incident involving Volkov as “truly exceptional”.
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“We have to be clear about who we consider leaders of the opposition, because when opposition leaders begin speaking in jargon similar to Putin’s own, it raises the question: where is the government and where is the opposition?” the Lithuanian leader said.
Nausėda added that it should also be acknowledged that the Kremlin has done everything in its power to destroy the opposition both physically and by other means, and that it is difficult for the state itself and its people to fully rid themselves of imperial ambitions and the philosophy of Russian messianism.
He noted that when it comes to Russia, it is much more difficult to tell the difference between the Russian government’s position and the opposition “than, for example, with Belarus”.
As a former associate of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Leonid Volkov has temporary residence in Lithuania.
Lithuanian law provides that a temporary residence permit may be revoked if a foreign national’s presence in Lithuania poses a threat to national security, public order or people’s health.
The leaked conversation with Volkov sparked outrage. A screenshot that spread online shows him rejoicing at the purported killing of Denis Kapustin, commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a pro-Ukrainian paramilitary force.
“A Nazi whose very existence was a gift to Kremlin propaganda is dead. Whose clown ‘corps’ carried out murky missions for the scummy yokel of a political technologist, Budanov,” Volkov wrote.
“I hope Kapustin’s friends will follow him. [Andrii] Yermak will be imprisoned, [Mykhailo] Podoliak will be imprisoned, Budanov will be imprisoned, and all the other propagandists and hypocrites will be imprisoned. And then Ukraine will have a chance to win. But while it is being built on cabbage [Kapustin and his associates – ed.], no one will look its way,” he claimed.
Lithuania’s Migration Department has requested additional guidance from the State Security Department on whether this constitutes a threat to national security and asked it to assess Volkov’s public statements.
Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the populist party Dawn of Nemunas, believes Volkov’s Lithuanian residence permit should be revoked.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė has said she hopes his Lithuanian residence permit will be annulled.
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