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Anatoly Blinov, a key figure in recent investigations by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) and The Insider, has been detained for three months in Poland, as per a report by the publication Sirena citing the Polish National Prosecutor's Office. The specific charges against Blinov remain unknown at this time.
Source: Sirena
The report, shared on Telegram, contains a screenshot of an email. It reads:
“Please be informed that Anatolii B. is under temporary arrest in the case conducted by the Mazovian Division of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office.”
The letter, signed by Anna Adamiak, a spokeswoman for Poland's Prosecutor General, did not specify the date of Blinov’s arrest, nor did she mention the nature of the case and the allegations against him. The Polish authorities are also yet to comment on the man being detained.
Blinov, according to leaked communications revealed in the investigation, carried out tasks on behalf of Leonid Nevzlin, an exiled Russian-born Israeli billionaire and a long-time business associate of Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Nevzlin appears to have used Blinov to organize attacks on multiple exiled Russian opposition figures.
Blinov reported back to Nevzlin on at least two “successful” attacks — one against Leonid Volkov, and another on Alexandra Petrachkova, the wife of Maxim Mironov, an economist who had posted unfavorable comments about Nevzlin on Twitter.
On the evening of Mar. 12, Volkov was assaulted near his residence on the outskirts of Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, suffering a broken arm and leg injuries. The following month, three men were arrested in Poland on suspicion of carrying out the attack.
Alexandra Petrachkova was assaulted on Sep. 1, 2023, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as she returned home with their 10-month-old child. She was struck in the face by a man, who yelled out the warning: “Stay away from Russia!” The Insider was then able to identify the assailant as 38-year-old Grzegorz Daszkowski from Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Screenshots of the correspondence show that Nevzlin not only ordered the attack on Mironov's wife, Alexandra Petrachkova, but also meticulously monitored its execution and the spread of information about the assault. Following the attack, Blinov and Nevzlin discussed a “nicer format in the Baltics” — apparently referring to a planned attack on Volkov in Vilnius. Blinov also wrote that he had given the attacker an “instruction to [make Volkov] kneel down and apologize while drooling blood.”
The correspondence also suggested that Blinov and Nevzlin had a plan to kidnap Volkov and transport him back to Russia against his will. Blinov informed Nevzlin that he was starting to “track the package” — i.e. carrying out the surveillance of Volkov — and that there was already a “corridor” in place for delivering the “package” across the border. Nevzlin responded, “it's time to do away with the moron.”
Leonid Nevzlin has denied organizing the attack on Volkov (though he made no such statement regarding the one on Petrachkova) and claimed that the conversations were allegedly initiated by Blinov himself. However, the published screenshots show Nevzlin expressing no surprise at Blinov's “provocative messages.” Instead, Nevzlin is shown to be actively engaging in discussions about the assaults — and issuing orders. Nevzlin has not disputed the authenticity of the correspondence.
The allegations against Nevzlin have sparked a major rift within Russia's exiled opposition, with some prominent figures — including Mikhail Khodorkovsky — publicly refraining from joining in the accusations against him. The conflict seems likely to escalate to legal proceedings, although it is unclear how exactly that process will unfold given that Nevzlin resides in Israel and the alleged crimes took place in several countries.
On Monday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said his country would “responsibly consider” the claims against Nevzlin. “We will always support the [Russian] opposition as it is fighting against the Putin regime, and we will responsibly consider all statements about who organised what,” the president told reporters.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF, also known by the abbreviation FBK after its Russian-language name) is a non-governmental organization founded in 2011 by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Its primary mission is to investigate and expose corruption among high-ranking Russian officials, government agencies, and state-owned companies. The ACF has gained widespread recognition for its detailed investigations into the illicit wealth and corruption of prominent Russian politicians and business figures, often releasing reports and videos documenting luxurious properties and unexplained financial dealings. One of its most famous investigations exposed “Putin’s Palace” — a sprawling multimillion-dollar estate on the coast of the Black Sea built for the Russian president.
On Feb. 16 of this year, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported the death of Alexei Navalny in the IK-3 prison above the Arctic Circle. The politician's family and associates are certain that he was murdered.