The opposition to President Vladimir Putin is not only the target of repression, but also the scene of trench warfare. The forced emigration of many Putin opponents and the escalation in the Ukraine war have exacerbated old tensions. This is evidenced by a "violent scandal in the Russian opposition environment, probably the biggest since the beginning of the war," as the objective (and harassed as a "foreign agent") business portal "The Bell" judges. As a result, Leonid Volkov, one of the closest allies of Putin's opponent Alexei Navalny, who is imprisoned in Russia, announced on Thursday a "break" from his work as chairman of the "Anti-Corruption Foundation International".

The US-registered foundation was established last year after Navalny's corresponding organization was deemed "extremist" in Russia and disbanded. Under the impression of increasingly severe persecution, the 42-year-old Volkov has been exiled in Lithuania for several years. For a long time, he and other Navalny allies have been campaigning in Brussels, London and Washington for sanctions against Putin's "war supporters."

On their list are the names of 7050 Russians, more and more are added. The idea behind this is to isolate Putin within his elite, "to make the connection with him toxic and expensive." In order to make the sanctions more effective, the West must also make it clear how to free itself from sanctions, Volkov explained to the medium "Bloomberg" at the beginning of March. "The end goal is to stop the war, not punish people." Otherwise, those affected would only be left with Moscow as a place of refuge, they would become even more dependent on Putin. The criteria could be condemnation of the war and support for Ukraine.

"Bloomberg" reported on a letter that Volkov had already written last October "to the EU", with a corresponding appeal and examples of businessmen who deserved to be exempted from sanctions: the billionaire Mikhail Fridman and his partners in the "Alfa Group", which controls, among other things, Russia's largest private bank, Pyotr Aven, German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichow. The four Russians are not targets of sanctions by Washington (which has only imposed the "Alfa Bank"), but those of the EU and Great Britain. Lawsuits against this have so far been unsuccessful.

After "Bloomberg's" publication, Volkov denied on Twitter that the anti-corruption foundation is committed to lifting sanctions against certain people. "But we have always said that the West's sanctions policy is not effective because it is a 'one-way street' that does not create the conditions for division and conflict."

Then, however, the former editor-in-chief of the radio station "Echo of Moscow", Alexei Venediktov, announced on Telegram two letters signed by Volkov to EU leaders: First, a letter from early February with the signatures of Volkov and eight other Russian Russians from the opposition environment, which advocates exempting the four "Alfa Group" shareholders from sanctions.