SHOOTING OUTSIDE THE KREMLIN

Boris Nemtsov, a known opposition politician, has been killed in Moscow. He was shot dead on 27 February at night, in front of the Kremlin, by four rounds fired at close range.

Shots on the bridge

Boris Nemtsov was killed at about 23:15 Moscow time when he was walking across the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge together with his companion Anna Duritskaya, a citizen of Ukraine, heading from the Kremlin towards Bolotnaya Street. Half an hour before that, he was interviewed by phone by the Ukrainian radio station "Vesti", in which he shared his reminiscences of the fact that Boris Yeltsin, at first, wanted to make him his successor as president of Russia, but then changed his mind. According to Ilya Yashin, Nemtsov's colleague who spoke to the Russian Business Channel (RBC) citing the words of Duritskaya who had called him earlier, a passing car stopped near Nemtsov a couple of dozen metres from St. Basil's Cathedral and unknown persons began to fire at him. Later, forensic experts established that the criminals had shot at least six times. Four bullets hit Nemtsov including in the heart and the head. He died on the spot from the injuries sustained.

Nemtsov's companion was not hurt in the attack. The car carrying the criminals fled from the scene. Witnesses noticed that it was a white Ford.

The Main Investigation Directorate of Russia's Investigative Committee (IC) in Moscow launched an investigation into Nemtsov's murder based on crimes under Article 105, part 1 of the RF Criminal Code (murder) and Article 222 of the RF Criminal Code (trafficking in weapons).

IC representative Yulia Ivanova told journalists that the best forensic investigators had been involved in the investigation following the directive of IC Chief Alexander Bastrykin. A special investigation team was set up, headed by Alexander Drymanov, acting head of the Main Investigation Directorate of Russia's Investigative Committee in Moscow. Both Yulia Ivanova and Yelena Alekseeva, the official representative of the Ministry of Interior, have told that all versions are being considered at the initial stage of the investigation including a contract hit.

The reaction of Russian politicians

The Russian President's press secretary Dmitriy Peskov said that Vladimir Putin had called the murder of Nemtsov a provocation having signs of a contract killing. The President expressed his deep condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased and instructed the heads of law enforcement agencies to take the investigation under their personal control. According to Prime Minister of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev, police authorities must do everything possible to identify "the whole range of people involved in this brutal murder of a prominent politician". Secretary of United Russia's General Council Sergey Neverov spoke of the need to catch the assassins. "As members of the State Duma, we are going to closely monitor the progress in the investigation," he said. Nemtsov's associates came to the scene of crime.

"No matter what versions of this murder one may discuss, it must be borne in mind that enemies of our country, all sorts of scoundrels, will use it to destabilize the situation in Russia," Communist Party leader Gennadiy Zyuganov said.

According to Zyuganov, the party in power could not have possibly gained by the death of Nemtsov. "A citizen of the country and a politician known not only in Russia but also in the world was in fact shot dead just opposite the Kremlin," he said, adding that "we must be careful and very vigilant at this time."

Speaking to RBC, former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov offered his comment on what had happened: "This is an outrage beyond imagination. My friend Boris Nemtsov lies some 50 metres from the Kremlin wall. Russia has come to a situation where people are being killed near the Kremlin. It's a shock. How could Russia have come to this?" According to Ilya Yashin, the assassination was politically motivated. "Boris regularly received threats but did not attach any importance to this. I would like to emphasize that of late, Boris has actively been working on the report "Putin: War". He said he had evidence of the involvement of the Russian military in armed actions in Ukraine. This is an assassination that has been carefully planted," he said. Vadim Prokhorov, a lawyer at the RPR-PARNAS [Republican Party of Russia - People's Freedom Party], is confident that the assassination is linked to Nemtsov's political activity. "He has received threats from time to time; last year, he even submitted a proper statement to the police," the human rights activist said. "But I doubt that those who contemplated a murder would resort to overt threats".

The reaction from abroad

Commenting on the incident in Moscow, US President Barack Obama said that he admired Nemtsov: "We call upon the Russian government to conduct a prompt, impartial, and transparent investigation into the circumstances of his murder and ensure that those responsible for this vicious killing are brought to justice. Nemtsov was a tireless advocate for his country, seeking for his fellow Russian citizens the rights to which all people are entitled. 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".

"I am shocked by the murder of a key opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov. Killers must be brought to justice," Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel "appreciates the courage of the former deputy prime minister, who repeatedly expressed publicly his criticism of government policy. She offers her condolences to his family and calls on President Vladimir Putin to ensure that the murder is cleared up and the perpetrators are brought to justice," said Steffen Seibert, an official spokesman of the German government.

A statement of the Elysee Palace reads that French President Francois Hollande "denounces the odious assassination of Boris Nemtsov", RIA Novosti reports. "The President of the Republic expresses his condolences to the family of Boris Nemtsov and his friends," the statement said.

ABOUT HIM

Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov was born in Sochi on 9 October 1959. He began his political career in the late 1980s by joining an environmental movement. In March 1990, he was elected to the Supreme Council of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was a member of the Coalition of Reforms bloc and the faction Left Centre - Cooperation. In August 1991, he was appointed a representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Nizhny Novgorod Region, and in December of that year he took over as the head of administration of Nizhny Novgorod Region. In 1993, Governor Nemtsov was elected to the Council of Federation. In March 1997, Nemtsov was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. He exercised oversight of the social block, housing and utilities sector and construction, natural monopolies, and antitrust policy. From April to November 1997, while retaining the position of deputy prime minister, he served as the Minister of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation. In the spring of 1998, as deputy prime minister, he was in charge of the financial and economic bloc. Following the default in August 1998, Nemtsov was appointed acting deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation. In 2003, Nemtsov topped the list of the Union of Right Forces party during the elections to the State Duma. In 2010, Nemtsov together with ex-premier of Russia Mikhail Kasyanov, Vladimir Milov and Vladimir Ryzhkov announced the creation of the opposition coalition "For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption". A political party, which was organized on its basis specifically for the presidential and parliamentary elections, was founded in December 2010 under the name of People's Freedom Party (PARNAS). At the regional elections held on 8 September 2013, Nemtsov was elected to the Yaroslavl Region Council being number one on the list of the RPR-PARNAS party.