Mikhail Volkov
Mikhail Volkov, the father of opposition politician Leonid Volkov, was released on his own recognizance on Thursday after questioning by Russia’s Federal Security Service. He’s been named as a suspect in a felony investigation, though the precise charges remain unclear. In a live-streamed interview with the Golos movement, Leonid Volkov insisted that the case against his father, whatever the criminal statute, should be understood as an attempt to “put pressure on [him] and get revenge in the dirtiest way possible — through [his] family.”
Knock, knock
Federal agents raided Mikhail Volkov’s home on Thursday morning, April 3. The first media outlet to report the police action was the Telegram channel Ural Live, which is linked to pro-Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. The same channel claimed that Volkov Sr. would face felony charges for financing an extremist organization, allegedly due to a money transfer to the outlawed Anti-Corruption Foundation, where his son has worked for many years.
Later, the news agency TASS, citing law enforcement sources, and the Yekaterinburg-based outlet It’s My City, citing its own source, also confirmed these charges, though Leonid Volkov has not corroborated this information. Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels were also quick to claim that Mikhail Volkov had been placed under arrest, though Volkov Jr. said the raid at that time was still ongoing, citing information from his parents’ lawyer.
An ex-scholar
Mikhail Volkov, 69, lives in Yekaterinburg. He holds a doctorate in physics and mathematics. Until recently, he was a professor and head of the Department of Algebra and Fundamental Informatics at Ural Federal University. The school dismissed him in February 2025 in a move his son says was linked to his own political activities.
One of Navalny’s righthand men
Leonid Volkov was one of Alexey Navalny’s key allies. Together with Maria Pevchikh and Ivan Zhdanov, he’s the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by Navalny. Volkov also co-hosts the Navalny team’s YouTube channel, Popular Politics. He emigrated from Russia in 2019 and now lives in Lithuania. The Russian authorities have opened at least six felony cases against him.
An unenviable first
The raid on Mikhail Volkov’s home is reportedly the first known case where officials have targeted the relatives of Anti-Corruption Foundation staff over allegations of financing extremism, reports Agentstvo Media. “I haven’t heard of other similar cases and hope there aren’t any,” said Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with the human rights group First Department. He added that charging someone with financing Navalny’s group requires the authorities to prove that the suspect transferred money or assets for the organization’s benefit.
The closest precedents
The case against Yuri Zhdanov — the father of another Anti-Corruption Foundation leader, Ivan Zhdanov — appears to be one of the closest precedents to what’s happening now with Mikhail Volkov. Police arrested Zhdanov Sr. in the spring of 2021 and charged him with fraud and forgery. As a government official in Russia’s Nenets Autonomous Okrug, he had allegedly recommended awarding a housing unit to a woman whose family had already received housing subsidies. Yuri Zhdanov maintained his innocence while serving a three-year prison sentence. He went free in late 2023. Ivan Zhdanov says the charges against his father were retaliation for his political activism.
Alexey Navalny’s brother Oleg was also targeted in felony prosecutions in Russia. In 2014, a judge sentenced Oleg to 3.5 years in prison in the ; he was released in 2018. In August 2021, Oleg received a one-year suspended sentence in the “.” Several months later, officials converted the suspended sentence to prison time, but Oleg Navalny had already left the country by then.