[GHung]

A leading Russian opposition politician, former deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say.



An unidentified attacker shot Mr Nemtsov four times in central Moscow, a source in the law enforcement bodies told Russia's Interfax news agency.

He was reportedly shot near the Kremlin while walking with a woman.

He died just before a march in Moscow against the war in Ukraine which he was actively promoting.

Mr Nemtsov, 55, served as first deputy prime minister under the late 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 favour with Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, Mr Nemtsov became an outspoken opposition politician.

More: http://m.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31669061

CNN quoting Putin as suggesting it was a contract killing. Ya think?

[dissident]

Tin foil hat much.

Putin apparently waits until some liberast clown becomes nearly obscure to have them offed. As with Politkovskaya, as with Litvinenko. Yeah, right.

Let's have some intellectual effort exerted to identify motive. These incidents serve the interests of Russia's enemies.

[dissident]

Also, why the timid murder spree? If I was some despot afraid of some fringe I would have them all offed and disappeared. Look at all the western media hysterics over these incidents, expect another round of epic hate propaganda in the western media aimed at Russia. So where is my incentive, as a despot, to spare this fringe opposition. Killing one of them gets as much hate spew as killing all of them. And what are the self-anointed guardians of humanity and moral values going to do exactly to stop me? Threaten a nuclear war? As if the USA and its minions gave a flying f*ck about opposition politicians in Guatemala, El Salvador and the rest of Latin America when they were being murdered and disappeared by the thousands.

[Plantagenet]

liberast clown

Why insult a man who has been murdered?

Show some decency.

[Sixstrings]

From reading the article on this, it's clearly an outright hit job.

He was walking down the street with a Ukrainian woman, just outside the kremlin. Car pulls up, shoots him down right there, drives off.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Alexeyeva told reporters 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.

Mikhail Kasyanov, a former Russian prime minister now also in opposition, said he was shocked.

"In the 21st century, a leader of the opposition is being demonstratively shot just outside the walls of the Kremlin!" Kasyanov told reporters as Nemtsov's body placed in a plastic bag was removed on a rainy and cold night, as the Kremlin bells chimed nearby. "The country is rolling into the abyss."

Kasyanov said the rally organizers decided that instead of the planned demonstration on Moscow's southeastern outskirts they will stage a demonstration in the center of the capital to commemorate Nemtsov.

Garry Kasparov, a former chess champion who worked with Nemtsov to organize protests against Putin and now lives in the United States, tweeted: "Devastated to hear of the brutal murder of my long-time opposition colleague Boris Nemtsov. Shot 4 times, once for each child he leaves."

Opposition activist Ilya Yashin said on Ekho Moskvy radio that he last spoke with Nemtsov two days before the killing.
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.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150228/eu-russia-opposition-leader-killed-9719825864.html

[Kylon]

Vladimir Putin possibly did it, but then again it's Russia. The level of corruption there is enormous and has been since Tsarist times.

In Russia there are lots of mafias, gangs, and a thriving criminal class. If you anger just one of them it's bad.

Corruption is widespread in the Russian government.

I'm not saying Putin didn't do it, or that he didn't have a hand in it. But there is also the possibility that he pissed off someone else.

[Sixstrings]

He had been planning to attend an opposition rally Sunday:

Boris Nemtsov, prominent Putin critic, is gunned down in Moscow

Once seen as the inspiring hope for Russian democracy in the early years of the post-Soviet era, when he was a protege of President Boris Yeltsin, Nemtsov had been preparing to join the opposition rally Sunday against Putin, whose backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine has brought international scorn onto Russia and sanctions that have sent its economy into a tailspin.

...

Nemtsov had expressed concern for his safety in recent years as other opposition figures met with untimely deaths, including crusading journalist Anya Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko, the fugitive Russian intelligence officer poisoned in London in 2006.

In an interview with The Times last week, Nemtsov criticized Putin's intervention in Ukraine and said the Sunday demonstration was being organized to show the world that not all Russians stand with the Kremlin leader.

“This anti-war march we brand as ‘Spring March' is very important, as it should indicate how many people in Russia don't support Putin's covert war against Ukraine,” Nemtsov said.

“Putin is leading the country to a catastrophe, and he is solely responsible for the political and economic crisis the country is experiencing right now.”
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-boris-nemtsov-killed-20150227-story.html

Boris Nemtsov Shot Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

1. He Was Shot 4 Times in the Chest
2. Russian Cops Are Calling the Operation to Find the Killers ‘Interception’
3. He Was Boris Yeltsin’s Chosen Successor

Nemtsov was Russia’s first deputy prime minister following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s. He was considered a disciple of then Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

On his Twitter page, Nemtsov describes himself as the leader of the Solidarity movement and the Party of People’s Freedom.

4. He Compared Putin to Stalin

In a blog posting about his protest, Nemtsov wrote that he and his followers were marching against “Putin’s aggression.” In 2013, in a speech in Washington D.C. about Putin, Nemtsov said:

Stalin was a murderer, but he was not corrupt. Putin and his circle are deeply corrupt, and they care about their assets in Europe. And this is a chance for European democracies, because even though Putin might act as if he has unlimited power and unlimited opportunities, that is not true. He only wishes he had that.

5. It Was Rumored That He Was Passed Over Because He Was Jewish

He is survived by his wife and four children. Nemtsov’s wife was named Raisa Akhmetovna, she is part Tatar. Jewish advocacy website AJC named Nemtsov as one of the most prominent Jews in Russia thanks to his mother’s heritage. An article on their site says that in his 1997 memoir, The Provincial Man, which was a mere 150 pages, Nemstov reveals that he was baptized Russian Orthodox in secret.

It was rumored around the time of Boris Yeltsin’s abdication that Nemtsov was passed over because of his judaism. Though he himself had always said that religion played an “insignificant role” in his life.
http://heavy.com/news/2015/02/boris-nemstov-shooting-assassination-conspiracy-theory-family-wife-funeral-vladimir-putin-vansa/

[sparky]

.
Here is the report from the Moscow Times , a western paper associated with the international herald tribune but published in Russia by Russian journalists
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/arti ... 16676.html

The picture has been taken from the south bank of the Moskva ricer , the Kremlin is on the left , the brightly decorated set of building is the old Univermag and St Basil church is center right

I've walked several time there to go to the Tretyakov gallery
for the conspiracy buff , murder is not the Modus operatis of Prez Putin , his style is legal harassment .
he has cleaned up the rather insane practices of the Yeltsin years,
several murders of opponents are somewhat suspect , both as target and timing it doesn't make sense
When Igor Gaydar ,an opponent was taken suddenly ill during a visit in Ireland , he rushed to the Russian embassy refusing to be taken to a local hospital and accepting only Russian doctors ... he lived
at the time there were a lot of speculation some murders took place to make Putin look bad
but you know conspiracies are often enough rubbish .

[dissident]

Vladimir Putin possibly did it, but then again it's Russia. The level of corruption there is enormous and has been since Tsarist times.

In Russia there are lots of mafias, gangs, and a thriving criminal class. If you anger just one of them it's bad.

Corruption is widespread in the Russian government.

I'm not saying Putin didn't do it, or that he didn't have a hand in it. But there is also the possibility that he pissed off someone else.

And you "know" this because the media told you so:



Every western media consumer is an expert on Russia without ever being there and even talking to someone who has relatives living there.

There is plenty of corruption in the USA of Canada and pathetic projection won't make it go away.

[dissident]

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/all ... 54161.html

Ally of ousted Ukraine leader found dead in apparent suicide

Investigators said that Chechetov, 61, was found dead late Friday in front of his home after apparently throwing himself from his apartment window.

The article is obviously biased. Any source claiming that the Maidan protests were being crushed is totally full of shit. The current coup regime in Kiev is doing all the crushing of protests. (http://novorossia.today/financial-maida ... ot-police/). But note how the fact he could have been suicided is not even considered. Meanwhile Sauron, sorry Putin, can't take out his opponents without leaving a trail back to the Kremlin like with Polonium and Litvinenko.

[Cottager]

Vladimir Putin possibly did it, but then again it's Russia. The level of corruption there is enormous and has been since Tsarist times.

In Russia there are lots of mafias, gangs, and a thriving criminal class. If you anger just one of them it's bad.

Corruption is widespread in the Russian government.

I'm not saying Putin didn't do it, or that he didn't have a hand in it. But there is also the possibility that he pissed off someone else.

And you "know" this because the media told you so:



Every western media consumer is an expert on Russia without ever being there and even talking to someone who has relatives living there.

There is plenty of corruption in the USA of Canada and pathetic projection won't make it go away.

Yeah, sure, Western "pindosses" (~dickless pussies) did it, sure not brave Eastern orcs.

To be honest - it is very unlikely, that grand orc putler gave an order to do this thing. Murder close to orc's palace Kremlin - no, those guys aren't working this way.
The sin of putler the orc is that he allowed all this anti-Western hysteria in now completely state controlled MSM in Russia happen, all this boiling uncontrolled sh.., let's say, opened this Pandora box (rememeber not Putler, but Hitler - he also opened Pandora box, Deutchland Uber Alles Sadly - there is no way back, only war, whether Poland (past), or Ukraine (present)). Those gunned guys are amateurs, for sure. Either brave New Russia rebels somewhere from inner Russia regions, or IS of Thetchnya brave Russia milking guys, or crazy Antimaidan patriots - we will see. Those are the most possible shooters.

[Sixstrings]

Was watching CNN. Nemtsov was actually on Anthony Bourdain's travelogue show, on one of his Russia episodes:

Nemtsov in 2014: Power today is like 19 century Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXht47GS5_U

White House statement:

Statement by the President on the Murder of Boris Nemtsov

The United States condemns the brutal murder of Boris Nemtsov, and 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. We offer our sincere condolences to Boris Efimovich’s family, and to the Russian people, who have lost one of the most dedicated and eloquent defenders of their rights.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/27/statement-president-murder-boris-nemtsov

[AgentR11]

From reading the article on this, it's clearly an outright hit job.

addenda: IF its a hit...

Thing is, its impossible for us to know WHO ordered or paid for the hit. We in the West would prefer to say, "Putin did it", because it fits our narrative; but truth is, we don't know beans. Amongst the bajillion possibilities, we have Putin ordered, Kiev/Poroshenko/battalions ordered, some ticked off lover ordered(definitely a player, so don't dis), an agitated screwball Putin supporter type in Russia (kinda like Giffords, or Reagan), a ticked off business partner; could be any stupid thing.

It seems a poor play for Putin, a guy with 5% support in the populace is more annoying dead than he is alive.

Being walked by the girlfriend is kinda suspicious, but again, the number of possibilities is just huge, both with her as accomplice, or as innocent bystander.

The level of instant-outrage in the proWest social media was peculiar, felt a little staged or artificial to me; but if half the English speaking Russian nationals in the UK hate Putin (as they should; he's gutted their payola) that alone is enough people to create a torrent of outrage on twitter, etc.

So basically, we have to wait. There is no knowing. And we disgrace ourselves by judging guilt simply because it is convenient for our story.

I'm also more than a little nauseated that Kremlin opposition guy Nemtsov dies violently in Moscow, and there is huge outrage in the media; but Poroshenko opposition guy Mikhail Chechetov (with arguably more internal support than Nemtsov) dies violently in Kiev and no one gives a *****. That really, really bothers me.

The drum beat of war is hard to stop once it gains momentum. The consequences of allowing this manner of conversation to continue could be existential. This is not some two-bit wasteland of a country we are rousing ourselves to go to war with. They hold the same world ending trigger we do, their defeat means we all die.

[Withnail]

Statement by the President on the Murder of Boris Nemtsov

The United States condemns the brutal murder of Boris Nemtsov, and 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 don't in any way endorse the killing but Nemtsov was far from a tireless advocate for his country, more like a traitor.

A trivial person anyway. Not worth killing.

(kinda like Giffords, or Reagan), a ticked off business partner; could be any stupid thing.

I'm sure I don't recall Russia making demands about open and honest investigations after those American political shootings.

[dissident]

I read routinely in the western media "analysis" of Russia that it some sort of tyranny with a despot presiding over a regime of terror. So how come Boris Nemtsov was casually strolling with his mistress (not his wife) out in the open without any security detail. A regime of terror implies dissidents fear for their lives and taking unnecessary risks is out of the question.

So we have a has-been politician who tries to stay relevant by making all sorts of wild accusations (recall Nemtsov's claims about Sochi venues failing to be constructed because of corruption) clearly not afraid for his life even though he loved to talk trash about Russia and its "regime of terror" on a routine basis. A blood libel hypocrite who was pissing Russians off since the 1990s. During the 1990s "shock therapy" witch doctor "reforms" over 8 million Russians died. This clown could have been offed at any time by any one of thousands of people who knew his face and hated his guts. It is actually surprising he was not counter-reformed back during the 1990s.

[AgentR11]

I'm sure I don't recall Russia making demands about open and honest investigations after those American political shootings.

Only the US is allowed to dictate the operation of other country's law enforcement processes. Surely you know that by now. Russia must perform its investigation as we want them to, and must come to a conclusion that fits our narrative; or else they are evil and must be destroyed.

OTOH, our law enforcement processes are beyond reproach, and we'll bomb you back to the stone age if you interfere.

[Withnail]

I'm sure I don't recall Russia making demands about open and honest investigations after those American political shootings.

Only the US is allowed to dictate the operation of other country's law enforcement processes. Surely you know that by now. Russia must perform its investigation as we want them to, and must come to a conclusion that fits our narrative; or else they are evil and must be destroyed.

OTOH, our law enforcement processes are beyond reproach, and we'll bomb you back to the stone age if you interfere.

Really, when you think about America, instances of terrorism (mass shooting of civilians) are far more common there than they are in any other developed country including Russia.

Yet America pretends other countries have a problem with terrorism.

[sparky]

.
The hit was quite professional , that would seems to exclude enthusiastic amateurs
the hit man had a precise idea where the guy was and where he was walking !?
the location is weird ,smack bang in the very heart of Moscow , on the political doorstep of Putin

the western press cauldron all bubbling can be taken for granted , doesn't means anything other that Putin is targeted

the "West friendly" opposition was foundering , while the Anti-West opposition of ultra nationalists and communists is thriving , for the rally the organizers were wishing for 10.000 ,
that's peanuts there are at least 5 time this number of Ukrainians living and working in Moscow

[jjhman]

Obviously Vlad ran out of Polonium.