In Yekaterinburg, law enforcement officers searched the home of Mikhail Volkov, the father of Russian opposition politician Leonid Volkov, the local publication It's My City writes.
The UralLive Telegram channel, which is affiliated with the Yekaterinburg team of propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, reports that Mikhail Volkov has been detained.
“A criminal case has been opened against [Mikhail] Volkov under part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provision of funds knowingly intended to support the activities of an extremist organization),” the publication writes, citing a source in the security services.
State-owned media agency TASS also confirms Mikhail Volkov's arrest, citing a source.
“Mikhail Volkov, the father of extremist Leonid Volkov, has been detained on suspicion of financing the banned Anti-Corruption Foundation. It is established that he transferred the sum of money to the account of the fund,” the agency's interviewee said.
However, Leonid Volkov himself denies the fact of his father’s arrest, confirming only the search and the ongoing investigation. He adds that law enforcement officers are confiscating his parents’ devices and that he currently has no way of contacting them.
Mikhail Volkov was born in 1955. He lives in Yekaterinburg and holds a doctoral degree in physics and mathematics. His son Leonid Volkov served as the chief of staff for Alexei Navalny’s 2018 presidential campaign and chaired Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation until 2023. Russia placed Volkov on the list of terrorists and extremists in 2022, along with his ACF colleague Ivan Zhdanov. In 2024, Volkov survived an attempt on his life in Vilnius, Lithuania.