Ten Russian bikers from Vladimir Putin’s Night Wolves bike gang have been turned back at the Polish border with Belarus.
The Night Wolves had planned to cross Poland on their way to Berlin to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on May 9.
The Polish government described their plans last week as “provocative”.
The Night Wolves back President Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine policy – something strongly opposed by Poland.
The bike gang is subject to US sanctions for alleged active involvement in Crimea – annexed by Russia from Ukraine last year – and for helping to recruit separatist fighters for Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign ministry had already expressed “outrage” at Poland’s ban.
The border guards, who did not specify that the bikers were Night Wolves members, said the ten did not fulfill the conditions to enter and stay in Poland. Polish news agency PAP reported that the ten were members of the Night Wolves.
The bikers held in a Polish facility at Terespol after Belarus frontier guards let them pass.
On April 24, the Polish foreign ministry cited safety concerns, saying the bikers had informed the Polish authorities of their plans too late and had provided vague information.
However, Polish media reports suggested some 200 Night Wolves bikers had managed to cross into Poland from the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad after obtaining visas, though they were not part of the group heading from Moscow to Berlin.
However, some Polish bikers are reported to view the Night Wolves favorably, with one group offering to escort them on their trip through Poland.
On April 25, the Night Wolves stopped at the Khatyn memorial near Minsk in Belarus, to pay tribute to villagers massacred by Nazi troops.
The Night Wolves intend to cross several countries on a 3,720 mile trip following the path taken by the Red Army in World War Two, with the aim of arriving in Berlin in time to coincide with Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9.
Vladimir Putin’s bikers have begun a controversial ride to Berlin, even though Poland says it will not allow them to cross the country.
The Night Wolves bike club wants to retrace the route of the Red Army in World War Two, and visit memorials to the Soviet troops who died fighting the Nazis.
Poland’s PM Ewa Kopacz called the trip a provocation.
The ultra-patriotic bikers are renowned for their staunch support of President Vladimir Putin, particularly his policies in Ukraine.
The US has put the Night Wolves on its sanctions list.
The bikers heading for Berlin joined a large crowd at the Night Wolves’ headquarters in Moscow on April 25 for the annual launch of the season.
Their leather jackets were newly embroidered: “Routes of Victory, 1941-45“.
Poland has banned The Night Wolves biker gang backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin from entering the country.
The Night Wolves had planned to enter next week as part of a ride across Europe to commemorate the 70th anniversary of World War Two.
Poland’s PM Ewa Kopacz had called the plan a “provocation”.
The Night Wolves’ vice-president, Felix Chernyakhovsky, has insisted the bikers still intend to make the trip.
“Everything remains the same. We’re starting tomorrow as planned,” he told Interfax news agency.
The Night Wolves are subject to US sanctions for alleged active involvement in Crimea and for helping to recruit separatist fighters for Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign ministry said it was “outraged” at Poland’s decision.
A Facebook page entitled “No to the Russian bandits’ ride through Poland” quickly gained support from more than 10,000 people.
Warsaw has been a strong critic of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
The Polish foreign ministry said three other Russian biker groups would be allowed into the country.
The ministry said it was notified of the group’s plans only on April 20, and without details of the route or number of participants.
It added that it had informed the Russian embassy in Warsaw that the lack of information meant “it could not ensure proper security for the participants”.
However, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “It is clear that the decision that was taken has a political motive.”
The Night Wolves intend to cross several countries, following a path taken by the Red Army in World War Two, with the aim of arriving in Berlin in time for May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.
The 3,720 mile road trip would take them through Russia, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria, before reaching Germany.
In a live televised phone-in, President Vladimir Putin says Russia can use Western sanctions to boost economic development by becoming more self-reliant.
Vladimir Putin said he had told business leaders that he did not expect EU-US sanctions – imposed over Russia’s actions in Ukraine – to be lifted soon.
“We need to use the situation to reach a new level of development,” the president said.
It is the 13th such annual phone-in – and usually they last about 4 hours.
The event is highly choreographed but does reveal Russians’ concerns.
About two million people have submitted questions – and more will come in during the broadcast. Russia’s ailing economy is a national preoccupation.
Vladimir Putin said the Russian economy would take about two years to bounce back, or less as the Russian ruble’s value was rising again. But industrial output may shrink further, he warned.
He said there were encouraging signs that Russian agriculture was growing and replacing imports of Western food.
Vladimir Putin is said to have taken two days out to prepare for the phone-in by consulting ministers and other experts. The broadcast began at 12:00 local time from a studio near the Kremlin.
The Kremlin says there has been an increase in questions about foreign policy, including calls to give formal recognition to the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Vladimir Putin is likely to face complaints about healthcare, pensions and rising food prices, as Russians’ real incomes have fallen this year for the first time since he came to power.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said about 23% of the questions submitted concerned social welfare issues, and the second biggest area of concern was housing and local services.
Greece’s PM Alexis Tsipras has arrived in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, as his country struggles with a debt crisis.
Alexis Tsipras will also meet Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev on April 9.
Greece is embroiled in negotiations with the EU and IMF to unblock a bailout package and could run out of funds within weeks.
Greek officials have previously pointed to Russia as a possible alternative source of financial assistance.
Analysts say Russia’s own economic woes mean any help would be limited.
“Russia is not and cannot be a (EU) substitute for Greece, it can only be a supplementary option,” said Constantinos Filis from the Institute of International Relations.
Alexis Tsipras and Vladimir Putin are expected to discuss ties between the EU and Russia, which were badly strained by the Ukraine crisis.
Before his arrival, Alexis Tsipras described the sanctions imposed by the EU and US on Russia in the wake of its annexation of the Crimea as “a road to nowhere”.
The European Parliament President, Martin Schulz, said Alexis Tsipras should not break with the EU line on sanctions.
“Greece demands and gets a lot of solidarity from the EU. We can therefore also ask for solidarity from Greece and for this solidarity not to be ended unilaterally by pulling out of joint measures,” he told a regional German newspaper, the Muenchner Merkur.
Russia imposed a ban on many western food imports in retaliation, but Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov has said the government could consider removing three countries, including Greece, from the embargo, Russian state media reported.
Alexis Tsipras came to power pledging to end austerity, but his plans have met resistance from Greece’s EU/IMF creditors, who lent the country billions to help it avoid bankruptcy.
Greece has not received bailout funds since August 2014, with the EU and IMF dissatisfied with the pace of Greek reforms.
A Greek repayment of €448 million ($483 million) to the IMF is due on April 9.
On April 7, the Greek government said Germany owed Greece nearly €279 billion ($303 billion) in war reparations for the Nazi occupation during World War Two.
Vladimir Putin has laughed off speculation about his health as he reappeared in public since after ten days.
“Life would be boring without gossip,” the Russian president told Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev at talks in St Petersburg.
Vladimir Putin, 62, appeared relaxed and smiled before the television cameras.
His disappearance from public view had sparked rumors that he might have fallen ill, died, been removed in a coup, or once again become a father.
Photo AFP
A brief video of Vladimir Putin’s meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart at the Constantine Palace in Russia’s second city was broadcast by state television without sound.
Asked by reporters about the speculation on his health, Vladimir Putin replied: “It would be boring without gossip.”
Almazbek Atambayev, for his part, said Vladimir Putin had driven him around the palace for 20 minutes before the meeting.
“I can confirm that he’s in excellent form,” Almazbek Atambayev was quoted by one journalist as saying.
Vladimir Putin’s last public appearance was on March 5 when he met Italian PM Matteo Renzi.
Last week, Vladimir Putin cancelled a number of scheduled events, including a visit to Kazakhstan that was due to take place on March 12-13, and the signing of an agreement with South Ossetia.
As speculation about Vladimir Putin’s disappearance mounted, the hashtag #Putinumer (#Putinisdead) trended on Twitter. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was forced to counter questions about each rumor, dismissing them as “March madness”.
“So everyone has now seen the paralyzed president captured by a general who has just returned from Switzerland where he was delivering a baby?” Dmitry Peskov asked journalists sarcastically on March 16.
Vladimir Putin’s reappearance coincides with the first anniversary of a controversial referendum in Crimea, which Russia used as justification for annexing the Ukrainian peninsula.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been seen in public lately, a Swiss tabloid claims that his alleged girlfriend Alina Kabaeva has given birth to the couple’s third child.
The Kremlin immediately denied the rumor as a “hoax”.
Rumors about the absence of Vladimir Putin from the public view went into overdrive on March 13 as the Kremlin released new footage of the president and also announced that he will meet the president of Kyrgyzstan on March 16.
On March 12, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov fended off suggestions that the president has been out of the spotlight due to illness, something he dismissed by saying “no need to worry, everything is all right,” and joking that the president’s handshake was still so strong it could “break your hand”.
Vladimir Putin has not been seen in public since a March 5 meeting with Italian PM Matteo Renzi.
According to the Blick , Switzerland’s oldest tabloid, Vladimir Putin has been out of sight not because of his own ill health – but because his supposed girlfriend, former Olympic rhythmic gymnast and current chairwoman of the National Media Group, Alina Kabaeva, gave birth to the couple’s daughter in Ticino.
The Blick report says many cars with Russian license plates have been seen outside a regional hospital in the past few days, and that Vladimir Putin is friends with a gynecologist who works there. It further claims that this is actually Vladimir Putin and Alina Kabaeva’s third child- following a son in 2009 and another daughter in 2012.
President Vladimir Putin, 62, already has two daughters with his ex-wife, Lyudmila Shkrebneva Putina, though little is known about them and the Kremlin has never published a family portrait.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to dismiss the rumors, saying that its “not true” and referred to the story as a “hoax”, AFP reported.
This is not the first time Vladimir Putin and Alina Kabaeva, 31, have been linked. In 2008, Russian media announced that the two were engaged to be married, despite Putin still being married to his now ex-wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva. Vladimir Putin denied it as “nonsense”.
Rumors swirled about a wedding again in 2013, after Vladimir Putin was divorced. The official Kremlin comment at that time was any talk of a wedding was a private matter for President Vladimir Putin to announce.
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted for the first time that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the referendum on self-determination.
Crimea was formally absorbed into Russia on March 18, to international condemnation, after unidentified gunmen took over the peninsula.
Vladimir Putin said on TV he had ordered work on “returning Crimea” to begin at an all-night meeting on February 22.
The meeting was called after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted.
Speaking last year, Vladimir Putin had said only that he took his final decision about Crimea after secret, undated opinion polls showed 80% of Crimeans favored joining Russia.
The findings of these polls were borne out by the outcome of the referendum on March 16, he told Russian state TV last April.
Speaking in a forthcoming Russian TV documentary, Vladimir Putin said a meeting with officials had been held on February 22-23 to plan the rescue of Ukraine’s deposed president.
“I invited the leaders of our special services and the defense ministry to the Kremlin and set them the task of saving the life of the president of Ukraine, who would simply have been liquidated,” he said.
“We finished about seven in the morning. When we were parting, I told all my colleagues, <<We are forced to begin the work to bring Crimea back into Russia>>.”
The trailer for The Path To The Motherland was broadcast on March 8 with no release date announced.
On February 27, unidentified armed men seized the local parliament and local government buildings in Crimea, raising the Russian flag.
Among them appeared to be regular soldiers without military insignia, who were dubbed the “little green men”.
Vladimir Putin subsequently admitted deploying troops on the peninsula to “stand behind Crimea’s self-defense forces”.
The formal annexation of Crimea sparked unrest in eastern Ukraine on April 7, when pro-Russian protesters occupied government buildings in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv demanding independence.
A month later, pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence from Ukraine after unrecognized referendums.
Ukraine responded by launching an “anti-terrorist operation” against them and the region became engulfed in a conflict which has cost at least 6,000 lives and driven more than a million people from their homes, according to the UN.
The Ukrainian government, Western leaders and NATO say there is clear evidence that Russia is helping the separatists with heavy weapons and soldiers. Independent experts echo that accusation.
Moscow denies it, insisting that any Russians serving with the rebels are “volunteers”.
Full details of Viktor Yanukovych’s escape from Ukraine are unclear although Vladimir Putin spoke of preparations to evacuate him from Donetsk.
The documentary, which Russian TV says will be broadcast soon, was made by Andrei Kondrashov, a journalist with state-run channel Rossiya-1.
Ilya Yashin, a close ally of murdered Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, says he is “totally skeptical” that the two men charged organized his killing.
“The trigger man will be blamed, while those who actually ordered the killing will go free,” Ilya Yashin, co-founder of Boris Nemtsov’s party, said on March 8.
Ilya Yashin’s comments came after two men of Chechen origin were charged with his murder and three others arrested.
He rejected suggestions radical Islamists were behind the murder.
“The investigators’ nonsensical theory about Islamist motives in the killing suits the Kremlin and takes [President Vladimir] Putin out of the firing line,” Ilya Yashin said on Twitter.
On March 8, a court in Moscow charged Zaur Dadayev and Anzor Gubashev with shooting Boris Nemtsov on a bridge near the Kremlin on January 27. Zaur Dadayev had admitted his involvement, the court said.
Three other suspects were remanded in custody. A sixth man was reported to have killed himself in a standoff with police in the Chechen capital Grozny.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, described Zaur Dadayev as a devout Muslim who was shocked by cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
“All who know Zaur [Dadayev] confirm that he is a deep believer and also that he, like all Muslims, was shocked by the activities of Charlie and comments in support of printing the cartoons,” he said.
Along with other Russian politicians and activists, Boris Nemtsov had condemned the killing of 12 journalists at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by Islamist extremists.
Boris Nemtsov also criticized threats made by the Chechen leader towards those who did not condemn cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo.
Ramazan Kadyrov had declared former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky his “personal enemy” for urging other papers to republish the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. He had also said Ekho Mosvky editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov “would be called to account” after his station’s website ran a poll on whether media should publish similar cartoons.
This prompted Boris Nemtsov to accuse Ramazan Kadyrov of violating Russia’s Criminal Code by infringing journalists’ activities.
“Everybody is already sick and tired of Ramzan’s threats, but he is certain that [President Vladimir] Putin will not let anyone touch him, so he is growing increasingly brazen every day,” Boris Nemtsov wrote on his Facebook page in January.
However, Ilya Yashin said he did not believe Boris Nemtsov’s killers were from outside Russia, calling his murder “an act of terror to scare society”.
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.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released from prison after serving a 15-day sentence for handing out leaflets to promote a protest rally.
Alexei Navalny left a Moscow detention centre a week after the killing of Boris Nemtsov.
The March 1 rally for which Alexei Navalny was leafleting instead became a mourning march for Boris Nemtsov.
Alexei Navalny says the legal cases against him are politically motivated.
In 2014, Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg were found guilty of stealing 30 million rubles ($462,000) from two companies.
Oleg Navalny was given a 3-and-a-half-year jail sentence, while Alexei Navalny received a suspended sentence that prosecutors say they will appeal against.
Speaking to reporters after his release on March 6, he vowed to continue his work despite the murder of Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead outside the Kremlin walls in what his allies say was a political killing.
“Our activity won’t change at all, we won’t reduce our efforts, we won’t step back,” Alexei Navalny said.
“That terrorist act didn’t achieve its aim, it didn’t frighten anyone, doesn’t frighten me or my associates.”
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.
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.
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.
Photo Reuters
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>>.”
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.
Vladimir Putin’s critic and former Deputy PM Boris Nemtsov has been shot dead in central Moscow, Russian officials say.
An unidentified gunman, in a car, shot Boris Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin, police say.
The Russian opposition leader died hours after appealing for support for a march on March 1 in Moscow against the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the murder, the Kremlin says.
Vladimir 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 Dmitry Peskov.
President Barack Obama condemned the “brutal murder” and called on the Russian government to conduct a “prompt, impartial and transparent investigation”.
Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe, condemned the killing, saying in a tweet: “I am shocked and appalled key opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was shot. Killers must be brought to justice.”
In a recent interview, Boris Nemtsov had said he feared Vladimir Putin would have him killed because of his opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Boris 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 favor with Boris Yeltsin’s successor, Vladimir Putin, he became an outspoken opposition politician.
Boris Nemtsov was shot at around 23:40 on Friday, February 27, while crossing 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, a police source told Russia’s Interfax news agency.
According to Russian-language news website Meduza, “several people” got out of a car and shot him.
One of the politician’s colleagues in his RPR-Parnassus party, Ilya Yashin, confirmed Boris Nemtsov’s death.
Flowers were left at the site of the shooting through the night.
In his last tweet, Boris Nemtsov sent out an appeal for Russia’s divided opposition to unite at an anti-war march he was planning for Sunday.
“If you support stopping Russia’s war with Ukraine, if you support stopping Putin’s aggression, come to the Spring March in Maryino on March 1,” he wrote.
Speaking earlier this month to Russia’s Sobesednik news website, Boris Nemtsov had spoken of his fears for his own life.
“I’m afraid Putin will kill me,” he said on February 10.
“I believe that he was the one who unleashed the war in the Ukraine,” Boris Nemtsov added.
Anti-Maidan protesters rally in Moscow to condemn the “coup” in neighboring Ukraine, a year after the downfall of its pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Russian state media heavily promoted the rally and march with the slogan “We won’t forget! We won’t forgive!”.
Ukraine’s protests ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
Russia has since annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and is accused of backing rebels in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government, Western leaders and NATO say there is clear evidence that Russia is helping the rebels in eastern Ukraine with heavy weapons and soldiers. Independent experts echo that accusation. Moscow denies it, insisting that any Russians serving with the rebels are “volunteers”.
Shelling could be heard on Saturday morning in the city of Donetsk, the rebels’ main stronghold, further fraying the ceasefire which was meant to begin nearly one week ago in eastern Ukraine.
Nearly 5,700 people have died since the fighting erupted in April 2014 and some 1.5 million people have fled their homes, according to the UN.
The Moscow event is styled as an “anti-Maidan” march – a reference to Ukraine’s pro-EU protests that started on Kiev’s central Independence Square, widely known as the Maidan.
Groups of demonstrators gathered in central Moscow on Saturday under patriotic Russian banners.
One group of marchers in military fatigues could be seen with a placard which read “Maidan is an illness – we’re going to cure it!”
Another placard read “Maidan benefits the enemies of Russia!”
At least 10,000 people are expected to turn out with more than 100 public organizations mustering support, Russia’s NTV news channel reports.
The channel says it will air an interview with Viktor Yanukovych later in the day.
The anti-Yanukovych revolt was triggered by a sudden U-turn that ditched a wide-ranging pact with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Since Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev, the new authorities in Ukraine have issued an arrest warrant for him over the “mass murder of peaceful citizens”.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia on February 20 of direct involvement in the sniper fire that killed dozens of protesters in Kiev on February 18-20 last year.
Petro Poroshenko was speaking just two days after his army retreated from the key town of Debaltseve, now in rebel hands.
Speaking at a commemorative gathering in Kiev, he said Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov had organized “groups of foreign snipers”. The president cited information he had received from Ukraine’s security services.
The Russian foreign ministry hit back at the claim, calling it “nonsense”.
The rebels took the strategic transport hub, despite the ceasefire signed on February 12, arguing that the truce did not apply to the flash-point town.
An intense rebel bombardment forced some 2,500 government troops to retreat from Debaltseve, and dozens of others surrendered.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a tough statement on February 20 warning that he would not allow any foreign state to gain the military advantage over Russia.
“No-one should have the illusion that they can gain military superiority over Russia, put any kind of pressure on it,” he said.
President Vladimir Putin’s critic Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to 15 days in prison for handing out leaflets to publicize a forthcoming demonstration.
The Russian opposition leader’s imprisonment bars him from taking part in the planned rally on March 1.
Alexei Navalny was given a suspended sentence for defrauding two companies in December. He says the legal cases against him are motivated by his opposition to President Vladimir Putin.
He left the courthouse on February 19 in a police car and wearing handcuffs.
Alexei Navalny urged his followers to attend the rally against President Vladimir Putin’s policies.
The law he breached is one that restricts demonstrations.
“To ease the economic and political crisis we have to pressure the authorities. Let’s go to the anti-crisis rally,” Alexei Navalny said in a video posted on his Twitter account.
Correspondents say that although Alexei Navalny has little chance of posing a serious challenge to Vladimir Putin, he had pledged to lead 100,000 demonstrators in the march, which he says is against Kremlin policies that are leading Russia into a severe economic crisis.
Alexei Navalny led Moscow street protests against President Vladimir Putin between 2011 and 2012.
Last year Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg were accused of stealing 30 million rubles ($462,000) from two companies.
Oleg Navalny was given a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence, while his brother was given a suspended sentence that prosecutors say they will appeal against.
Critics of the Kremlin and the US say that Alexei Navalny’s case is an attempt to stifle political dissent.
Since he was sentenced, Alexei Navalny has taken an increasingly defiant stance, cutting off his house arrest tag in January.
Vladimir Putin has urged the Ukrainian government to allow its troops to surrender to rebels in the strategic town of Debaltseve.
The Russian president also said he hoped the rebels would let any captured troops return to their families.
Fierce fighting raged throughout Tuesday in Debaltseve despite a ceasefire deal signed last week, with rebels saying they now controlled most areas.
The UN Security Council called for an immediate end to hostilities.
On Tuesday evening a resolution drafted by Russia calling on all sides to respect the deal, signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk last week, was adopted unanimously by the council.
International observers monitoring the truce have been unable to enter Debaltseve.
Debaltseve has become a key prize for rebels and government forces, as it sits on a strategic railway line linking rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described rebel attempts to take the town as a “cynical attack” on the ceasefire.
“Today the world must stop the aggressor,” Petro Poroshenko said in statement posted on his website following a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“I call on the permanent members of the UN Security Council to prevent further violation of fundamental principles and rules of the UN and the unleashing of a full-scale war in the very centre of Europe,” he said.
Speaking on a visit to Hungary, President Vladimir Putin said he hoped the ceasefire agreements would be observed by both sides.
Photo Reuters
Vladimir Putin said there had been a “significant reduction” in the intensity of combat since the truce came into effect over the weekend.
He said the conflict could not be solved by military means.
“I hope that the Ukrainian authorities are not going to prevent the Ukrainian soldiers from laying down their weapons,” he said.
“If they aren’t capable of taking that decision themselves and giving that order, then [I hope] that they won’t prosecute people who want to save their lives and the lives of others.”
Vladimir Putin added that the fighting in Debaltseve was “understandable and predictable”.
He said he had warned participants in the Minsk talks that – ceasefire or no ceasefire – encircled government troops would try to break free and the rebels would try to prevent this.
Meanwhile, sources in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said Debaltseve police station and railway station had been taken, and at least 80% of the city was under rebel control.
According to later reports, the city’s military HQ – where many government troops are based – has also been surrounded.
The rebels said that up to 300 Ukrainian troops in Debaltseve had surrendered, and Russian TV showed footage of what it said were 72 captured soldiers.
Ukraine said a group had been taken prisoner after an ambush but denied large-scale surrenders.
The Ukrainian military said there was intense fighting in the streets and confirmed that the rebels were in control of parts of the city.
Although Debaltseve has suffered weeks of artillery exchanges, correspondents say this is the first fierce fighting inside the town.
Most of its 25,000 population have been evacuated but about 7,000 civilians are still believed trapped by the fighting, according to Amnesty International.
The ceasefire, which came into effect on February 15, has been broadly observed but separatists insist the agreement does not apply in Debaltseve because they have the town almost surrounded.
Both sides have also failed to pull back heavy weapons from the front line.
The withdrawal was due to start no later than the second day after the truce came into effect and be completed within two weeks, creating buffer zones 30-85 miles wide.
Officials say more than 5,400 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, but the UN believes the actual death toll to be much higher.
Ukraine’s pro-Western government says Russia is supporting the separatists with troops and weapons, but the Kremlin has consistently denied this.
Thousands of people have protested in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, ahead of talks between PM Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Today’s visit is Vladimir Putin’s first to an EU leader since June 2014.
Hungary wants to negotiate a new agreement for Russian gas supplies.
Russia has been largely shunned by EU member states because of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, although it denies accusations of fomenting the violence.
Protesters rallied in Budapest on Monday night carrying banners saying “Putin No! Europe Yes!”.
Much of the city centre was closed to traffic on February 17 as security was stepped up ahead of the visit.
Vladimir Putin’s trip comes less than two weeks after German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Budapest before embarking on a week of intense diplomacy, which resulted in the announcement of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
He is keen to demonstrate that he has allies within the EU and NATO, observers say.
During his visit, Vladimir Putin is due to visit the graves of Soviet soldiers.
Hungary has backed EU sanctions imposed on Russia over the situation in Ukraine, but has been vocal about their negative impact.
In 2014, Viktor Orban said the EU had “shot itself in the foot” by restricting trade with Moscow.
Hungary relies on Russia for more than half of its gas supplies and wants to negotiate a flexible long-term deal to succeed the current agreement which expires later this year.
Viktor Orban, who rose to prominence with a strong anti-communist and anti-Russian stance as a student leader, told Hungarian radio on Friday that there were psychological tensions with Russia, but he wanted to overcome them.
He is considered to be among Vladimir Putin’s closest allies in Europe.
Many of the demonstrators who marched through Budapest on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s visit said they were wary of closer ties with Russia.
President Petro Poroshenko has warned that a deal to end the war in eastern Ukraine is in “great danger” after heavy fighting ahead of February 15 ceasefire.
The Ukrainian president also accused Russia of “significantly increasing” its offensive despite the peace agreement reached in Minsk on February 12.
Meanwhile, the US said it was very concerned by reports of heavy weapons coming across the border from Russia.
Shelling was heard in the rebel-held city of Donetsk early on Saturday, February 14.
Fierce battles are also said to be continuing around Debaltseve, a strategic government-held town almost encircled by rebel forces.
More than a dozen civilians are said to have died in shelling in eastern Ukraine on February 13.
It is unclear who was behind the shelling but both the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions accuse each other of targeting residential areas.
Photo AFP
France President Francois Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel – who together clinched the agreement in the Belarusian capital – are due to discuss the issue by phone over the weekend.
The UN Security Council will also meet in emergency session on February 15.
Correspondents say the fighting shows no sign of stopping.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Petro Mekhed said the rebels wanted to “raise their flag” over Debaltseve and the key port city of Mariupol before the midnight ceasefire kicked in.
“Ukraine is expecting an escalation and taking all necessary measures to be able to respond,” Petro Mekhed told reporters.
Rebel shelling killed two people in a cafe in Shchastya, near Luhansk, on February 13 as well as a child near a school in Artemivsk, a town near Debaltseve, according to Kiev-controlled regional authorities.
Meanwhile, the rebels said at least six people had died in shelling in the city of Donetsk and town of Horlivka. The rebels accuse government forces of shelling the towns.
“After what we achieved in Minsk this is not just shelling of Ukrainian civilians and residential neighborhoods – this is an attack on our Minsk achievements, without any explanations,” President Petro Poroshenko said.
“Unfortunately, after Minsk, Russia’s offensive operations have intensified,” he said, before adding: “We are still convinced that the Minsk achievements are in a big danger.”
There were also reports of a government offensive near Mariupol, the city between rebel-held eastern areas and the southern Crimea peninsula, which was annexed by Russia last March.
Pro-Russian rebels signed the peace agreement but key issues remain to be settled, including the situation in Debaltseve.
European leaders have warned Russia that it could face additional sanctions if the agreement is not respected.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the deal offered “a glimmer of hope”, but warned: “It is very important that words are followed by actions.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was caught on camera when he nearly pulled a chair out from under Russian President Vladimir Putin just before Minsk negotiations on Ukrainian conflict.
Vladimir Putin had to give in and wait for his seat, as Alexander Lukashenko finished his conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The footage became viral on internet with users creating a looping Coub video clip, backed by jolly music, running the footage backwards to reverse the order of events.
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Prev