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Russian opposition figure found dead in Warsaw

18.08.2026 20:30
Russian opposition figure Sergei Vlasenko has been found dead in his Warsaw apartment, Polish prosecutors said on Tuesday, adding that there was no indication of foul play.
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"At this stage, there is no indication that the man's death was caused by the actions or negligence of another person," Piotr Antoni Skiba, a spokesman for the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office, said.

Police and prosecutors have been examining the apartment in Warsaw's Mokotów district since around 1 a.m., Skiba said.

An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, along with toxicological and other specialist tests.

Vlasenko's medical records were found at the apartment, Skiba said.

According to the independent Russian news outlet Sota, Vlasenko served as a member of local authorities in Russia's Far East in the 1980s. He later lived in Anapa in southern Russia.

Vlasenko left Russia for Poland after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, initially on a tourist visa, and later obtained political asylum, Sota reported.

Vlasenko was associated with the Congress of People's Deputies, an opposition organization made up of former Russian lawmakers.

The congress was initiated by former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev, who lives in Ukraine.

The organization says it ultimately aims to become a transitional parliament for Russia.

Russia's Prosecutor General's Office designated the Congress of People's Deputies an "undesirable organization" in April 2023.

The death comes amid heightened concerns over suspected Russian operations targeting dissidents and people inconvenient to the Kremlin.

Polish authorities said last week they had arrested a Russian man who was recruited by Russian intelligence to kill a US citizen of Ukrainian origin in Warsaw.

In June, Polish authorities said they had detained a man suspected of involvement in the killing of a dissident Russian artist and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the eastern Polish city of Biała Podlaska.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the time that the suspect was carrying a Georgian passport and that authorities were working to establish "who ordered the killing."

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Source: IAR/PAPpolskieradio24.pl