Assassination of Boris Nemtsov
| Assassination of Boris Nemtsov | |
|---|---|
Flowers and candles near the site of Nemtsov's assassination
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| Location | Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge,Moscow |
| Coordinates | 55°45′00″N 37°37′26″E / 55.75000°N 37.62389°ECoordinates: 55°45′00″N 37°37′26″E / 55.75000°N 37.62389°E |
| Date | 27 February 2015 23:31 (UTC+03:00) |
| Target | Boris Nemtsov |
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Attack type
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Murder, drive-by shooting |
| Weapons | Makarov pistol |
| Deaths | 1 |
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Suspected perpetrators
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Anzor Gubashev Zaur Dadaev |
The assassination of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian statesman and politician opposed to the government of Vladimir Putin, happened in central Moscow on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge at 23:31 local time on 27 February 2015. An unknown assailant fired seven or eight shots from a Makarov pistol; four of them hit Boris Nemtsov in the head, heart, liver and stomach, killing him almost instantly. He died hours after appealing to the public to support a march against Russia's war in Ukraine.
The assassination was met with widespread international condemnation and concern for the situation of the Russian opposition. Russian authorities also condemned the murder and vowed a thorough investigation.
On 8 March 2015, Russian authorities charged Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadaev, both originating from Northern Caucasus, with involvement in the crime. Dadaev confessed to involvement in the murder according to Russian authorities, but, according to Russian media, later retracted his confession. Three more suspects were arrested around the same time and according to Russian media another suspect blew himself up in Grozny when Russian police forces surrounded his apartment block.
Nemtsov was shot and killed crossing the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge near the Kremlin walking home after a meal out, in the company of Anna Duritskaya, a 23-year-old Ukrainian model who had been his girlfriend for two and a half years. She witnessed Nemtsov's killing, but was not physically harmed herself.TV Tsentr's video of the bridge at the time of the murder shows that it occurred as a municipal utility vehicle was passing by Nemtsov and a person is seen escaping from the scene in a white or grey automobile. According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, at the time of the murder all the security cameras in the area were switched off for maintenance. The only video of the incident was obtained from the video feed camera of TV Tsentr studio, from a long distance. At the time of the killing, the camera was blocked by a stopped municipal vehicle. The killing happened the day before Nemtsov was due to lead the opposition march Vesna (Russian for "spring"), a street demonstration organised to protest against economic conditions in Russia and against the war in Ukraine.
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Wikipedia