Born into Soviet Jewish intelligentsia, leading Russian opposition figure, Leonid Volkov, is now in exile in Lithuania. Through lawyers, he liaises with his jailed friend Alexei Navalny who is serving nine years in a maximum security Russian prison. Both Internet bloggers with massive followings, Leonid was Navalny’s chief-of-staff for his presidential campaign against Putin in 2018. From exile and prison, the two friends and others are preparing for Putin’s fall. “We have to be ready for when the situation allows,” he told me. “Alexei takes part in all policy and strategic planning.” Before ordering coffee, Leonid jokingly lifted a glass to assure me it was ‘Novichok free.’
