Moscow: A leading Russian opposition politician, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say. An unidentified attacker in a car shot Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin, police say. He died hours after appealing for support for a march on Sunday in Moscow against the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the murder, the Kremlin says. President Putin has assumed “personal control” of the investigation into the killing, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov. It “bears the hallmarks of a contract killing,” said Mr Peskov.
In a recent interview, Mr Nemtsov had said he feared Mr Putin would have him killed because of his opposition to the war in Ukraine. Boris Nemtsov was one of Russia’s leading economic reformers in the 1990s (file photo from 2009)
Mr Nemtsov, 55, served as first deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s. He had earned a reputation as an economic reformer while governor of one of Russia’s biggest cities, Nizhny Novgorod. Falling out of favour with Yeltsin’s successor, Mr Putin, he became an outspoken opposition politician.
Less than two hours after his death, police were washing blood off the sidewalk on Great Moskvoretsky Bridge as supporters were leaving flowers near where Nemtsov had fallen. Nemtsov, who TASS news agency said had been out walking after a meal in a restaurant by Red Square, had been quoted as saying he was concerned that the president might want him dead over his opposition to the conflict in Ukraine.
Sunday’s opposition march is intended as a protest against the war in east Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels have seized a swathe of territory. Kiev, the West and some Russians accuse Moscow of sending troops to support the rebels, an accusation Russia has repeatedly denied.
“Those who are for ending Russia’s war with Ukraine, for ending Putin’s aggression, come to the Spring March in Maryno (Moscow) on March 1,” Nemtsov said in one of his last comments for the liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy this week. Tall, with a mop of black curly black hair that had started to turn grey, he often dressed casually in big sweaters and was known for booming speeches criticising Putin at rallies.
Organisers of the Spring March were at odds after Nemtsov’s death over whether to hold the rally he spent weeks preparing, or turn it into a demonstration of mourning in central Moscow. This is a political killing which carries the characteristics of an ordered killing. The murder is connected with Boris’ opposition activities. They killed one of the brightest members of the Russian opposition to intimidate and strike fear,” Yashin told Interfax news agency.
Nemtsov’s criticism of Putin won him support among Moscow intellectuals and the nascent middle class but he had little support outside the big cities. Another opposition figure, Ksenia Sobchak, said Nemtsov had been preparing a report on the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine. The Kremlin denies allegations by Kiev and Western governments that it has sent troops and advanced weaponry to back the rebels.
Like other opposition leaders, Nemtsov was a fighter against corruption. In other reports, he condemned massive overspending on the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics by the Russian authorities and listed the many state buildings, helicopters and planes that Putin has at his disposal. Nemtsov was also one of the leaders of the rallies in the winter of 2011-12 that became the biggest protests against Putin and he first rose to power in 2000.
Bureau Report
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