A few hours after going on the radio to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies as “mad,” charismatic opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down early yesterday near the Kremlin.
Colleagues in Russia’s beleaguered and marginalized opposition suspected the state or assailants fired up by fervent Russian nationalist sentiment in state-controlled news media outlets. Putin and other Russian politicians suggested that the attack was a provocation against the state.
Nemtsov, 55, was shot while walking with a female companion on a bridge over the Moscow River about 400m from the Kremlin.
Photo: AFP
Russia’s Investigative Committee said that at least seven gunshshots were fired.
Nemtsov was to have been a prominent participant in a march planned for today in Moscow to protest Russia’s policies in Ukraine — where the West alleges that the Kremlin has provided troops and equipment to separatist rebels — as well as the economic crisis sparked by Western sanctions over Ukraine and the plunge in oil prices.
Moscow city authorities later yesterday gave permission for opposition leaders to hold a march in memory of Nemtsov after the cancellation of the planned rally.
Photo: EPA
“We have agreed [to] this event” set for today, city official Alexei Maiorov told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency, adding that the route would cross the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge where Nemtsov was shot. Authorities will allow up to 50,000 participants.
Nemtsov was working on a report presenting evidence that he believed proved Russia’s direct involvement in the separatist rebellion that has raged in eastern Ukraine since April last year.
Moscow denies backing the rebels with troops and weapons.
Putin ordered Russia’s top law enforcement officials to personally oversee the investigation.
“Putin noted that this cruel murder has all the makings of a contract hit and is extremely provocative,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Nemtsov committed his life to a more democratic Russia, “and to strong relationships between Russia and its neighbors and partners, including the United States.”
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