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boris nemtsov murder
Boris Nemtsov’s daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, says Russian President Vladimir Putin must bear responsibility for the opposition politician murder.
In an interview with BBC, Zhanna Nemtsova said she believed Vladimir putin was “politically” to blame.
Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and veteran liberal politician, was shot dead on February 27 while walking with his girlfriend near the Kremlin.
President Vladimir Putin has condemned the murder and vowed to find the killers.
Meanwhile, one of the men charged over the murder, Zaur Dadayev, has said he was forced into a confession.
Zaur Dadayev told prison visitors that he was tied up for two days with a bag on his head, and only confessed to the killing so that a friend would be freed.
Zhanna Nemtsova, who is a stock market analyst and TV presenter at a financial channel in Moscow, said she had not been contacted by Russian investigators because they were “not interested in an independent investigation”.
Officials have yet to cite a motive for Boris Nemtsov’s murder.
Last year, Boris Nemtsov contacted the Russian authorities after receiving death threats on his Facebook page, which he linked to his position on the conflict in Ukraine.
He had been drafting a report expected to expose covert Russian military involvement in the conflict.
Police turned down Boris Nemtsov’s request for an investigation in September.
Zhanna Nemtsova, 30, said she had not been able to access her father’s apartment where he kept his files.
The European parliament is expected to adopt a resolution condemning Boris Nemtsov’s killing and the state of democracy in Russia later on Thursday, March 12.
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Zaur Dadayev, one of two suspects charged with the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, confessed under torture, a member of Russia’s Human Rights Council says.
Andrei Babushkin, who visited Zaur Dadayev on March 10, says he saw “numerous wounds” on his body, suggesting he had been tortured.
Zaur Dadayev said he was tied up for two days with a bag over his head.
He says he only confessed so a friend arrested with him would be freed.
“There are reasons to believe Zaur Dadayev confessed under torture,” Andrei Babushkin said after a delegation visited the suspect in prison.
Zaur Dadayev told the visitors he was mistreated in the two days after his capture in Chechnya on March 7.
He also said he confessed to make sure a friend who was arrested with him would be released.
Zaur Dadayev said he planned to tell the truth in court, but was never given a chance to speak.
The second suspect, Shagid Gubashev, says he was beaten by his interrogators and maintains his innocence.
Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and veteran liberal politician, was shot in the back as he was walking with his girlfriend within sight of the Kremlin on February 27.
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Zaur Dadayev and Anzor Gubashev have been charged in connection with the murder of Russian opposition activist Boris Nemtsov.
The Moscow court said one of the men, Zaur Dadayev, had admitted involvement in the shooting on a bridge near the Kremlin on February 27.
Zaur Dadayev and Anzor Gubashev are of Chechen origin.
Three other suspects were remanded in custody. A sixth man is reported to have killed himself in a standoff with police in the Chechen capital Grozny.
The suspect threw one grenade at the arresting officers and blew himself up with another, a security source told Interfax news agency.
Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and veteran liberal politician, who was 55, was shot in the back four times as he was walking with his girlfriend within sight of the Kremlin. He was buried in Moscow on March 3.
Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev, who are both accused of organizing and carrying out the murder, were brought into court amid heavy security.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Zaur Dedayev was a devout Muslim who was shocked by cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Russian investigators have previously said they were looking into the possibility that Boris Nemtsov was killed over his defense of Charlie Hebdo.
In a statement on his Instagram account, Ramazan Kadyrov also confirmed Zaur Dadayev had been a member of the Chechen police who was decorated for his bravery.
The other suspects include Anzor Gubashev’s younger brother Shagid Gubashev and two men named as Ramzan Bakhayev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov. Reports say all three have denied any involvement in the murder.
Four of the men come from the northern Caucasus region and were detained in the republic of Ingushetia which borders Chechnya, Russian media say.
The Russian Investigations Committee is treating the case as a “contract killing”, Interfax news agency reported.
According to the sections of the criminal code cited in court, investigators believe the murder was carried out by a group of people, that it was committed on contract for financial gains, and that it also involved extortion and banditry, Interfax says.
President Vladimir Putin has condemned Boris Nemtsov’s murder and called for an end to “shameful” political killings in Russia.
However, leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny accused the Kremlin of ordering the assassination to cow the opposition amid Russia’s mounting economic problems.
Boris Nemtsov was killed just days before a march against the war in Ukraine that he was organizing.
Boris Nemtsov had also been drafting a report expected to expose covert Russian military involvement in the conflict.
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Russian authorities have arrested two men over the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced.
Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev were detained on March 7, FSB director Alexander Bortnikov said, speaking on national television.
President Vladimir Putin has been informed of their detention, Alexander Bortnikov added.
Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, 55, was shot dead on the night of February 27 as he was walking on the street with his girlfriend.
He was buried in Moscow on March 3.
Russia’s leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny accused the Kremlin of ordering the assassination in order to cow the opposition amid Russia’s mounting economic problems.
President Vladimir Putin publicly condemned the murder of Boris Nemtsov and called for an end to “shameful” political killings in Russia.
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President Vladimir Putin has said that “shameful” political killings in Russia should be stopped, after the shooting of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov just outside the Kremlin walls.
The president said the most serious attention should be paid to high-profile crimes.
Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was murdered on February 27 and buried in Moscow on March 3.
The motive is unknown, but Vladimir Putin’s aides have rejected suggestions that he had any involvement.
Boris Nemtsov, who had been planning a march against the conflict in eastern Ukraine, said recently that he feared the president would have him killed because of his opposition to the war.
The 55-year-old was shot four times in the back while walking with his Ukrainian girlfriend, Anna Duritskaya, on Great Moskvoretsky Bridge.
At least 50,000 people turned out on March 1 to rally in tribute to Boris Nemtsov.
Marchers, some chanting “Russia without Putin”, blamed the assassination on a climate of hatred fostered by the Kremlin and its supporters towards opponents of its Ukraine policy.
“It is necessary to finally rid Russia of the shame and tragedies like the one that we lived through and saw quite recently. I mean the murder, the brazen murder of Boris Nemtsov right in the centre of the capital,” Vladimir Putin said in televised comments to the interior ministry.
After the shooting, which the Kremlin described as a “provocation” aimed at discrediting the president, Vladimir Putin said he would do all he could to ensure the killers were brought to justice but little progress appears to have been made in the investigation.
When asked by reporters on March 3 if there were any suspects in the murder, the head of Russia’s FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, said: “There are always suspects.”
Several theories have emerged for who was the behind the murder of Boris Nemtsov, who was putting together a report on Russia’s involvement in eastern Ukraine:
- Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said it was either a government or pro-government organization
- Rogue elements in the security services or fighters returning from eastern Ukraine may have wanted to silence his anti-war stance
- Or it may have been unrelated to Ukraine: Alexei Navalny said it could have been ordered by officials in Yaroslavl, where Boris Nemtsov had been investigating corruption
Russia’s finance ministry became part of the story on March 3 when it was asked about reports that a light-colored car used by the ministry had been seen in the area at the time of the shooting.
The ministry’s press service said the Ford car belonged to an in-house security service, but not the ministry itself, Tass news agency reported.
Lifenews website, which has close links to the security services, quoted the driver, Dmitry Karmaza, as saying he had driven past the scene a few minutes after the shooting, when a patrol car was already there.
Separately, a video purportedly showing a far-right Russian group active in eastern Ukraine claiming it carried out the killing was dismissed by the group’s leader as a fake.
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and several EU politicians have been barred from attending the funeral of murdered politician Boris Nemtsov in Moscow.
A Polish politician was denied a visa under existing Russian sanctions while a Latvian MEP was turned back after arriving at a Moscow airport.
Alexei Navalny was denied permission to leave jail, where he is serving a 15-day sentence.
Mourners are filing past Boris Nemtsov’s coffin at Moscow’s Sakharov centre.
His funeral will be held in the afternoon at a Moscow cemetery, Troyekurovskoye, where murdered journalist Anna Politkovskayta was buried in 2006.
Boris Nemtsov, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was killed on a bridge near the Kremlin wall on Friday night.
No arrests have been made and no clear motive has been established for the crime.
New CCTV footage of the presumed getaway car has been released by a pro-Kremlin Russian news website, LifeNews. The video shows a vehicle making its way along Moscow streets but there is no close-up on the suspects inside.
Former British PM John Major, who was in Moscow to pay his respects, called for a full, transparent investigation into Boris Nemtsov’s murder, saying his voice would not be silenced.
It was, he added, his “saddest ever visit to Moscow”.
Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete was refused entry into Russia at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow without a proper explanation.
Sandra Kalniete said she had been made to wait two hours at the airport before being denied entry.
Bogdan Borusewicz, the Polish senate speaker who was to have led a delegation from his country, was denied a visa.
Russia said Bogdan Borusewicz was on a list of Polish officials barred from travelling to Russia, drawn up after the EU imposed sanctions on Russia over its involvement in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral, the Kremlin said, but will send a representative in his place.
Alexei Navalny is currently in custody for 15 days for handing out leaflets publicizing a demonstration.
He appealed against a court decision not to release him temporarily but the appeal is only going to be heard on Wednesday, the day after the funeral.
Tens of thousands of people marched through central Moscow on March 1 to honor Boris Nemtsov, with the opposition claiming some 50,000 people had attended the event.
Boris Nemtsov, 55, had been due to lead an opposition march that day, but his killing turned the event into a mourning rally.
His allies have accused the Kremlin of involvement but President Vladimir Putin condemned the murder as “vile” and “provocative”, vowing to find the killers.
Boris Nemtsov had been walking home from a restaurant with his Ukrainian girlfriend, Anna Durytska, when he was shot four times.
Anna Durytska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian model, was allowed to return to Ukraine after being questioned by Russian police.
She told Russian media she had not seen the killer, who struck from behind.
Russia’s Federal Protective Service, in charge of presidential security, has said its surveillance cameras did not record the shooting because they were pointed towards the Kremlin.
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Anna Duritskaya, Boris Nemtsov’s Ukrainian girlfriend who was with him when he was shot dead in Moscow, is still questioned by the Russian police.
Anna Duritskaya’s lawyer told Russian media that she was anxious to go home temporarily to see her mother in Kiev.
“I don’t understand why I’m still on Russian territory,” she told Russia’s independent TV Rain (Dozhd).
Police were holding Anna Duritskaya for safety reasons. But her lawyer said the police “are acting correctly”.
The killing took place on Friday night, February 27, on Great Moskvoretsky Bridge, near the Kremlin wall.
Boris Nemtsov, 55, had just been dining at a restaurant with Anna Duritskaya.
They left together to walk to his flat, crossing the bridge, where a white car drew up and Boris Nemtsov was shot four times with a pistol at around 23:40. Anna Duritskaya was not injured.
According to website Vesti.ru, Anna Duritskaya phoned the police and her mother immediately after Boris Nemtsov was shot and fell.
Her mother said Anna “was holding his hand and then heard the bangs”.
“Boris slumped and fell. Anya was very frightened, she started calling the police and me immediately. She said on the phone: <<Mama, Boris has been killed! He’s been shot in the back, he’s fallen and now he’s lying beside me>>,” Anna Duritskaya’s mother was quoted as saying.
In her Dozhd TV interview, via Skype, Anna Duritskaya said the police “took a statement from me, they checked all my things, checked my phone calls, they took all the information”.
The Federal Protective Service (FSO), in charge of presidential security, said its surveillance cameras did not record the shooting because they were pointed towards the Kremlin.
Tens of thousands of people marched through central Moscow on Sunday, March 1, to honor Boris Nemtsov.
Boris Nemtsov had been due to lead an opposition march on March 1 but his killing turned the event into a mourning rally.
At the weekend police searched the offices of Boris Nemtsov in the northern city of Yaroslavl, Vesti reports.
They also questioned a local parliamentary aide of Boris Nemtsov, Mikhail Konev.
A witness statement from Anna Duritskaya, quoted by Vesti, described the gunman as wearing jeans and a sweater, about 5ft 7in tall, with an average build, and close-cropped dark hair.
Boris Nemtsov’s allies have accused the Kremlin of involvement, but President Vladimir Putin condemned the murder as “vile” and vowed to find the killers.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was looking into a number of possible motives for Boris Nemtsov’s murder.
They include his opposition to the Ukraine conflict, Islamic extremism – Boris Nemtsov had Jewish ancestry although he had become Orthodox Christian – and an opposition “sacrifice” of its leader to destabilize the state and undermine the president.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin had noted “that this cruel murder has all the makings of a contract hit and is extremely provocative”.
The investigators offered a reward of 3 million rubles ($48,000) for information leading to the killers.
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Tens of thousands of people are set to march in Moscow to honor opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead on February 27.
Boris Nemtsov was due to lead an opposition march on March 1 but his supporters will now be marching to mourn his death.
President Vladimir Putin condemned Boris Nemtsov’s murder as “vile and cynical” and vowed to find the killers.
Boris Nemtsov’s allies call it a political killing linked to his opposition to Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine conflict.
Opposition supporters are due to gather in central Moscow at 14:00 local time on March 1, before marching to the spot on Great Moskvoretsky Bridge where Boris Nemtsov was killed.
Moscow city authorities had previously approved a march for up to 50,000 people but organizers said more people might now attend following the murder.
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As night fell on February 28, flowers were piled up a meter high and two meters wide on the bridge.
Placards read: “We are all Nemtsov” and “Je Suis Boris” – the latter a reference to the Je Suis Charlie messages of support following the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris in January.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was looking into a number of possible motives, including Boris Nemtsov’s opposition to the Ukraine war, his political and personal life, Islamic extremism or an attempt to destabilize the state.
A number of pro-government figures suggested Boris Nemtsov had been made a sacrificial victim to show the state in a bad light.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin-backed leader of Chechnya, blamed: “Western special services, trying by any means to create internal conflict in Russia.”
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin had noted “that this cruel murder has all the makings of a contract hit and is extremely provocative”.
Others suggested there could have been personal enmity over Boris Nemtsov’s private or business life.
Boris Nemtsov was reportedly preparing documents on Russian military involvement in Ukraine in the weeks before his death.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said: “Boris had declared he would provide clear evidence of Russian armed forces’ participation in [the war] in Ukraine. Somebody was afraid of this… They killed him.”
Boris Nemtsov, 55, had been dining at a restaurant with his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya on Friday night.
They left together to walk to his flat, crossing the bridge, where a white car drew up and Boris Nemtsov was shot four times with a pistol at around 23:40.
Footage on Russian TV showed a white Lada Priora car in the area but there was no confirmation it was the one involved. One shot showed someone running along the road and jumping into the waiting car, which sped off.
Boris Nemtsov served as first deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s but fell out of favor with Vladimir Putin and became an outspoken opponent.
He told the weekly Sobesednik recently that his mother was worried about him.
“She is more worried about Putin than Ukraine. Every time I call her, she gives me a talking-to: <<When will you stop being rude about Putin? He’ll kill you>>.”
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Vladimir Putin has said he will do everything possible to bring to justice those who committed the “vile and cynical” murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
In a telegram to Boris Nemtsov’s mother, published on the Kremlin’s website, the Russian president offered condolences and praised Nemtsov’s openness and honesty.
Boris Nemtsov, 55, was shot four times in the back on a bridge near the Kremlin.
Western leaders demanded a transparent investigation into the killing.
In the telegram to Boris Nemtsov’s 86-year-old mother, Dina Eydman, Vladimir Putin said: “We will do everything to ensure that the perpetrators of this vile and cynical crime and those who stand behind them are properly punished.”
He said: “Please accept my deepest condolences in connection with this irreparable loss. I sincerely share your sorrow.
“Boris Nemtsov has left his mark in the history of Russia, in its political and public life. He occupied significant posts in a difficult time of transition in this country. He always openly and honestly voiced and upheld his views.”
Expressing shock at the “cruel and cynical murder”, PM Dmitry Medvedev said Boris Nemtsov was a “principled person” who “acted openly, consistently and never betrayed his views”.
On February 28 there was a steady stream of people leaving flowers at the site of the killing.
Boris Nemtsov served as first deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s but fell out of favor with Vladimir Putin and became an outspoken opponent, particularly on the Ukraine conflict.
During an interview on February 10, Boris Nemtsov had said he feared Vladimir Putin would have him killed because of his opposition to the war.
Boris Nemtsov died hours after appealing for support for a march on March 1 in Moscow against the conflict.
The march, due to be held in a Moscow suburb, has now been cancelled, and the organizers have been given permission to hold a mourning procession in the centre of the city.
According to the Russian state media, the march will begin on Kitaigorodsky Proezd at 15:00 local time and pass the site of the killing. Analysts say it is rare for state media to announce the time and place of opposition rallies.
Amid widespread global outrage, President Barack Obama condemned the killing as a “brutal murder”.
The Russian government must conduct a “prompt, impartial and transparent investigation”, Barack Obama urged.
“I admired Nemtsov’s courageous dedication to the struggle against corruption in Russia and appreciated his willingness to share his candid views with me when we met in Moscow in 2009,” the president said in a statement.
A statement from the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of Boris Nemtsov’s “courage” for his frequent criticism of Russian government policy.
Angela Merkel “calls on President Vladimir Putin to ensure that the murder is cleared up and the perpetrators brought to justice”, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
UK PM David Cameron echoed the calls for an inquiry, saying he was “shocked and sickened” by the news.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described Boris Nemtsov as a friend of Ukraine.
He said: “Boris had declared he would provide clear evidence of Russian armed forces’ participation in [the war] in Ukraine. Somebody was afraid of this… They killed him.”
Amnesty International demanded a “prompt, impartial and effective” investigation into what it said was “a cold-blooded murder of one of those free voices whom the authorities have so actively sought to silence”.
Boris Nemtsov was shot at around 23:40 on Friday, February 27, while crossing Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge accompanied by a woman, Russia’s interior ministry said.
He was shot with a pistol from a white car which fled the scene, police said.
Russian investigative committee head Vladimir Markin said in a statement that several motives for the killing were being considered including “Islamic extremism” and the victim’s alleged links with Ukraine.
“Mr. Nemtsov may have been sacrificed by those who do not shun anything to reach their political gains,” the statement said.
The statement also said that the attack was meticulously planned and the killers had been tracking Boris Nemtsov’s movements around Moscow.
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