Lithuanian president: Remarks about Ukrainian officials made by Russian opposition figure living in Lithuania resemble Putin's jargon

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has described statements by Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov about Ukrainian soldiers and officials as resembling the jargon of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Source: Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Nausėda called Volkov's case "truly exceptional".

"We must first clearly determine whom we consider leaders of the opposition, because when opposition leaders begin speaking in jargon similar to Putin's own, one question arises: 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 to destroy the opposition by both physical and 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, determining the difference between the Russian government's position and the opposition is "much more difficult than, for example, with Belarus".

Volkov, as a former associate of Alexei Navalny, one of the leaders of the Russian opposition, has a temporary residence permit in Lithuania.

Lithuanian law provides that a temporary residence permit may be revoked if a foreign national's stay in Lithuania poses a threat to national security, public order or people's health.

Outrage was sparked by a leaked conversation with Volkov. A screenshot that spread online shows him rejoicing at the alleged 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 scum 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 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 appealed to the State Security Department for additional consultation on a possible threat to national security and asked it to assess Volkov's statements that have appeared in the public space.

Leader of the Lithuanian populist party Dawn of Nemunas Remigijus Žemaitaitis believes Volkov's residence permit in Lithuania should be revoked.

Lithuania's Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė hopes his residence permit in Lithuania will be annulled.

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