By The Moscow Times | Created at 2024-12-16 11:40:19 | Updated at 2024-12-16 15:07:55
3 hours ago
A Russian activist who heads the U.S.-based Free Russia Foundation was attacked last month in London after meeting with anti-Kremlin businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the investigative news outlet Agentstvo reported Monday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
Natalia Arno, founder and president of the Free Russia Foundation, was attacked by an unknown assailant and had her phone stolen “immediately after” she met Khodorkovsky on Nov. 13. The assailant reportedly said “[Leonid] Nevzlin says hi” as he fled on a scooter.
Earlier this year, allies of Alexei Navalny accused Nevzlin, a Russian-Israeli businessman and close associate of Khodorkovsky, of ordering attacks against anti-Kremlin figures living outside of Russia. Agentstvo noted that Nevzlin-linked media outlets have mounted an “information attack” against the Free Russia Foundation in recent months.
Before Arno was able to block her stolen phone, two people received derogatory messages from it that she did not write. Agentstvo said it sought comments from Nevzlin, who declined to answer questions and asked not to be called again.
The previously unreported assault on Arno, which British law enforcement are said to be investigating, took place ahead of a Nov. 17 anti-war rally in Berlin organized by Yulia Navalnaya and other anti-Kremlin figures. Agentstvo said its sources declined to disclose the details of the meeting between Khodorkovsky and Arno, but it said the exiled businessman previously criticized the date and location of the rally.
Sota, a Nevzlin-linked offshoot of the Sota Vision news outlet, reported that Nevzlin knew about the assault on Arno and offered to “cooperate in the theft investigation to defend his name” before she allegedly cut off communications with him earlier this month. Sota accused Agentstvo of bias and having close links to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
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