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Prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov shot dead


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Prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov shot dead
LAURA MILLS, Associated Press
VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic former deputy prime minister turned Russian opposition leader, was shot and killed in Moscow Saturday, officials said.

Nemtsov's death comes just a day before a planned protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule. The Kremlin said that Putin will personally oversee the investigation.

Nemtsov, who was 55, was a sharp critic of Putin, assailing the government's inefficiency, rampant corruption and the Kremlin's policy on Ukraine, which has strained Russia-West ties to a degree unseen since Cold War times.

The Russian Interior Ministry, which oversees Russia's police force, said that Nemtsov was shot four times from a passing car as he was walking a bridge just outside the Kremlin shortly after midnight.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Alexeyeva told reporters on the scene that Nemtsov was walking with a female acquaintance, a Ukrainian citizen, when a vehicle drove up and unidentified assailants shot him dead. The woman wasn't hurt.

Opposition activist Ilya Yashin said on Ekho Moskvy radio that he last spoke with Nemtsov two days before the killing. Nemtsov was working on a report presenting evidence that he believed proved Russia's direct involvement in the separatist rebellion that erupted in eastern Ukraine last year.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of backing the rebels there with troops and weapons. Moscow has denied the accusations, but large numbers of sophisticated heavy weapons in the rebels' possession has strained the credibility of its denials.

Yashin said he had no doubt that Nemtsov's murder was politically motivated.

"Boris Nemtsov was a stark opposition leader who criticized the most important state officials in our country, including President Vladimir Putin. As we have seen, such criticism in Russia is dangerous for one's life," he said.

Political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky told Ekho Mosvky radio station that he did not believe that Nemtsov's death would in any way serve Putin's interests.

"But the atmosphere of hatred toward alternative thinkers that has formed over the past year, since the annexation of Crimea, may have played its role," Belkovsky said, referring to the surge of intense and officially endorsed nationalist discourse increasingly prevalent in Russia since it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Nemtsov served a deputy prime minister in the 1990s and once was seen as a possible successor to Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first elected president. After Putin was first elected in 2000, Nemtsov became one of the most vocal critics of his rule. He helped organize street protests and has relentlessly exposed official corruption.

He was one of the organizers of the Spring March opposition protest set for Sunday, which comes amid a severe economic downturn in Russia caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions.

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-- (c) Associated Press 2015-02-28

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...too obvious....another attempt to discredit or blame Putin....whose popularity is soaring....

I'm certain that with Putin personally investigating the assassination, the 'truth' will soon be revealed.

I expect he'll even out do that famous of the fame super sleuth Chalerm.

I bet Putin knows the killers initials by now,

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...too obvious....another attempt to discredit or blame Putin....whose popularity is soaring....

I'm certain that with Putin personally investigating the assassination, the 'truth' will soon be revealed.

I am going to stay open on this one.

There seem to be many factions here with vested interests.coffee1.gif

I'm going to speculate that Putin had a hand in it.

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...too obvious....another attempt to discredit or blame Putin....whose popularity is soaring....

That is such a good joke - you are giving us heart attacks here with your irony!

Looking at the serious side, this has all the hallmarks of a professional hit ordered by the Kremlin - other person not touched, car able to drive away with no problem with the police in the middle of a major city. The message is clear - no need of poisoning with radioactive material here - if you follow this man, you can expect the same fate.

The idea that you could discredit Putin is ludicrous. This is a man who invades other sovereign countries, who throws people in prison on trumped up charges and steals their wealth, who sits on top of the most organized corrupt state known to man and who is known to have ordered the killings of those who opposed him. What more could a hit of an opposition politician add to that reputation?

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I wonder if people realise how significant this man's death will be in the coming months.

No matter how much Putin denies he had anything to do with it the world will not believe him.

The thing that scares me is this may well bring us closer to an all out war with Russia.

I can hear the hawks sabres rattling louder every day in the US and Europe.

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I wonder if people realise how significant this man's death will be in the coming months.

No matter how much Putin denies he had anything to do with it the world will not believe him.

The thing that scares me is this may well bring us closer to an all out war with Russia.

I can hear the hawks sabres rattling louder every day in the US and Europe.

" this may well bring us closer to an all out war with Russia."

Yeah well just as long as USA factors in that it will also be taking on China at the same time before making any stupid movesrolleyes.gif

China just sided with Russia over the Ukraine conflict

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-china-ukraine-idUSKBN0LV0H120150227

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RIP. He spent american money for young women efficiently. He was like a clown for Putin not enemy

Don't be disrespectful to an incredibly smart man. He was married, had 4 children and was highly educated. Along with holding many prominent positions in the Russian government.

Show some respect. He was one of the most outspoken critics of Putin. And for good reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Nemtsov

Nemtsov was a candidate of physico-mathematical sciences and the author of more than 60 academic publications related to quantum physics, thermodynamics and acoustics. He is the author of a number of inventions including acoustics laser and a novel design of antennas for space apparatuses.[5] [6][7]
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I wonder if people realise how significant this man's death will be in the coming months.

No matter how much Putin denies he had anything to do with it the world will not believe him.

The thing that scares me is this may well bring us closer to an all out war with Russia.

I can hear the hawks sabres rattling louder every day in the US and Europe.

" this may well bring us closer to an all out war with Russia."

Yeah well just as long as USA factors in that it will also be taking on China at the same time before making any stupid movesrolleyes.gif

China just sided with Russia over the Ukraine conflict

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-china-ukraine-idUSKBN0LV0H120150227

You mean that fine, upstanding country that's aggressively grabbing land from other countries???? Seems China and Russia are doing the same thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes#Asia_and_the_Pacific

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RIP. Putin would be behind this just like he was behind the attacks on the Ukraine & the downing of the Malaysian flight.

Putin is a coward and this sort of evill murder is right up his alley. Scumbag.

With all due respect, it could be allies of Putin acting on their own. But basically being "protected" by Putin. Kinda like the shenanigans here the past few years. Depending on your political affiliation, certain things were overlooked. But not necessarily orchestrated by the people in power?????

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This killing is reminiscent of Putin taking out politicians, journalists and former KGB investigators that were investigating and connecting Putin to the two apartment bombings that killed over 200 that Putin blamed on Checnya to win support for his war in Checnya when his approval ratings slipped below 50%.

I had wonder if we would start seeing people showing up dead after the leaked document last week detailing Putin's plans to take over Eastern Ukraine rven before Yanukovych fled to Russia.

This may turn out eerily similar to the Kovalev Commission deaths related to investigations of Putin's involvement in the Pechatniki and Kashirskoye apartment bombings to gain support for Purin's war in Checnya.

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