Putin’s leading critic, Boris Nemtsov, shot in Moscow

The primary Russian critic of Putin’s activities in the Ukraine has been Boris Nemtsov, who had also been a former deputy prime minister and a nuclear scientist. Early in the morning on Saturday, he was fatally shot in Moscow.

Nemtsov was scheduled to speak just two days later at an opposition rally. He was walking across a bridge near the Kremlin when a car that was passing him shot him in the back four times. Although he was walking with a woman acquaintance, she was not hurt.

President Putin quickly condemned the killing, and offered condolences. He also called for three law enforcement agencies to conduct an investigation. It was reported that white cars were being stopped by police in the area.

There have been a number of run-ins between Nemtsov and the authorities before. He had been arrested more than once because he dared speak openly against the actions of the government. The last two occasions were in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, he released a report showing how the Russian government had conducted one of its most “outrageous swindles” in the modern history of the country. He claimed that as much as 60 percent of the cost for the Sochi Winter Games were stolen – an amount equal to $30 billion.

President Obama called it a “brutal murder.” He also said that Nemtsov was a “tireless advocate for his country,” a man who stood against the common corruption in his country and desired freedom for its citizens. Obama had met him in Moscow in 2009. He also asked that Putin conduct a transparent investigation into his murder.

When asked if he felt that Putin might kill him one day, Nemtsov replied that he was only “somewhat worried” about it. He also added that his mother believed that it would probably happen one day.

Other outspoken opponents of Putin have also been killed recently. The most well-known cases include the murders of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist; Natalia Estemirova, a researcher into human rights; and the defector from the security service, Aleksandr V. Litvinenko.

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