A Hit on Russia's Opposition

[mendeleyev]

First, a personal note.

It may seem morbid to some, but one of the first things a managing journalist does upon arrival to a new post is to update the "obits" as we call them--the obituary files. Nothing riles editors back home as a sudden death, and you find yourself unprepared. Obits also serve as a collection point for lots of things. Sure, there are the family notes, factoids that one learns about important people over time, and the basics such as dates of birth, etc.

It is the little things in those files that can set your stories apart from others. Things like fun facts on their personal lives--people have the most interesting hobbies, love or hate pets, have unique tastes in food and music, etc. Filing away an off-hand comment a politician made about another leader, whether complimentary or negative, can come in handy, even years down the road.

It is those same things however, that tug at your heart when someone passes. This is when knowing the name of their dogs isn't fun anymore, or when you wish you didn't know so much about their children. Such are the moments when the personal feelings tempt to cross into the professional. Supposedly, we are not to grieve in times like these because we should remain detached.

I didn't really know Boris Nemtsov very well until the protests began in 2010 and moving forward. It was my friend Alyona Popova who helped me get to know this fascinating fellow. He was brilliant--with a PhD in the sciences, and thus certainly above my league. Yet, in his trademark blue jeans he was just as comfortable with a little ole babushka, as he was discussing economics with (now former) Treasury Minister Aleksi Kudrin.

I have a black and white photo taken by another journalist during Nemtsov's early days in the national government. The scene is a field, and there is a group of old men and women pensioners holding banners calling for his resignation. I have learned that Boris Nemtsov was the kind of guy who wasn't afraid to meet with such groups, and to listen to their concerns.

Was he perfect? Likely not--he came up through the Soviet system. Yet, he was brave enough to write about Mr. Putin's connections to organized crime. Perhaps that is why he remarked just a few weeks ago that he feared being murdered by those in power.

Oh, if only one could learn to be cold and detached about such events. Not having to care would be a luxury about now.

He will be missed, but perhaps his death will be a catalyst for change. That is all one can say at the moment.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
  Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
  Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
  Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
(Martin Niemöller:)





Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov, outspoken Putin critic and leader of the People's Freedom opposition party has been murdered in Moscow. According to the prosecutor's office, Nemtsov was walking across a bridge over the Moscow river, just steps from the Kremlin, when a white car stopped and shots rang out.

Investigators say that Nemtsov was shot in the head, heart, stomach, and liver, with major organs possibly pointing to a professional hit. Investigators have confirmed that he was killed instantly when struck in the heart.




“I want to tell you that in Russia – panic. The panic that people sweep products from the shelves. The panic that it is impossible to buy currency in exchange. The panic that people fired from their jobs. The fact that the government quietly began preparing for the suppression of mass protests “-Boris Nemtsov on Gromadska TV, 18 December 2014.





The murder took place late on Friday evening on the bridge just behind St Basil’s Cathedral, near the edge of Red Square. He was walking with a companion, an (as yet) unidentified female from Kyiv (Kiev). Eyewitnesses noted the license plate of the car as it sped off, but police have not yet found the vehicle. No one else was hurt. Nemtsov was 55 years old, and is survived by his wife and four children.





Nemtsov has been a vocal critic of Russia's annexation of Crimea, and of Russia's proxy war in Eastern Ukraine. He was scheduled to lead a major opposition rally in the centre of Moscow this Sunday, the first of March. Police had already jailed the other scheduled protest leader, Aleksi Navalny.


2011 Moscow protest: L-R: Boris Nemtsov, Grigoriy Yavlinskiy, Aleksei Navalny.

Nemtsov had served Russia as deputy prime minister during the 1990s in the Boris Yeltsin government. After leaving office he had authored several reports linking Putin to Russia's organized crime groups. His status, and likeability, had made him one of the country's more popular among opposition leaders.


(Nemtsov, seen at the front looking at a mobile phone while co-leading a protest on 15 March 2014 to protest the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine.)

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an executive order placing himself at the head of the investigation, and ordered the respective leaders of the Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Federal Security Service to take over management of the homicide investigation. In the hours following the murder, police raided Nemtsov's home and confiscated boxes of documents and computers.


Putin and Nemtsov in the Kremlin, 5 Dec 2000. (Photo: Kremlin presidential press office.)

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, called the murder a "pure provocation." He said that Mr. Putin had extended condolences to the Nemtsov family. Peskov's remarks echoed those of Mr. Putin, who himself wasted no time in suggesting that what he termed as a “brutal murder” may have been the work of outside forces to malign the Kremlin's reputation.


Moscow meeting at the US Embassy in 2009 with president Obama: L-R: Leonid Gozman, Boris Nemtsov, Gennady Zyuganov, Yelena Mizulina, Sergei Mitrokhin.

From Washington, USA president Barack Obama challenged Russia to do a “prompt, impartial and transparent” investigation to bring Nemtsov’s killers to justice. In his remarks Obama recalled his 2009 meeting with Russian opposition leaders in Moscow. Obama eulogized Nemtsov as a “tireless advocate” for Russia. Obama concluded by saying that the Russian people had “lost one of the most dedicated and eloquent defenders of their rights."
 
In reference to his numerous arrests by the Putin government for political activities, the international group Amnesty International has called him a "prisoner of conscience."


Boris Nemtsov speaking at a Moscow protest rally on 24 Dec 2011.

Nemtsov was one of the original promoters of the "Strategy 31 (Стратегия-31) rallies, a series of peaceful rallies meant to remind Russians of their constitutional right to free assemply, as enshrined by Article 31 of the Russian Constitution. Protests are scheduled in several cities across Russia on the 31st of every month with 31 days. Despite the constitutional guarantee, the government has found reasons to deem each "31" rally to be illegal. The largest "Strategy 31" rally was attended by some 2,000 persons on the 31st of May 2010. Over a hundred participants were arrested during that peaceful assembly.

Nemtsov had earned his Ph.D in Physics and Mathematics, authored over 60 academic publications related to thermodynamics and quantum physics, and was the inventor of several space products. While one side of his family is Jewish, Nemtsov was an active Orthodox Christian.



In Memorandum:

Into Thy hands, O Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, we commend the spirit of your servant Boris. Comfort, receive, save and grant eternal life in Your presence to your servant Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov. With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Your departed servant Boris, where there is neither sickness nor sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting.
Eternal memory! Amen.




Boris with his Mom.


(photo: Evgeny Feldman)


(photo: Ilya Varlamov)

[Chelseaboy]

So,one of the protest leaders is assassinated just before the scheduled protest whilst the other one has been locked-up.

The protest march has now been cancelled and will be replaced by one in memory of
Boris Nemtsov.

Any comments from the pro--Putinists on here ?

[sleepycat]

Any comments from the pro--Putinists on here ?

I'll take a stab in the dark...

Doll will say the only way she can be convinced the Kremlin is involved in the killing is if there is video footage of the assassin wearing a FSB identification tag.

Shadow and Steamer will probably say something like the silly man got what he deserved because he walked in front of flying bullets.

Neville will tell us this morning he just happened to be surfing the internet and found an article giving hints that the CIA or MI6 is really behind this assassination.

Have I left any of our Putinist friends out?

[Chelseaboy]

Yep,

         You left out The Natural and Darth_Budda from that motley crew.

They're probably working out conspiracy theories as we speak 

When they've returned from the different Planet they seem to inhabit.
 

[Darth_Budda]

Yep,

         You left out The Natural and Darth_Budda from that motley crew.

They're probably working out conspiracy theories as we speak 

When they've returned from the different Planet they seem to inhabit.

I have not passed judgment....   The person Killed got a lot of Funding from NED,, Which in turn is Supported by the US Government...

So in a way you could say he was in the Pay of Washington....

[Shadow]

If Nemtzov would have been killed by Barack Obama on live TV people would still blame Putin.
Keep telling your stories, some day you might believe them yourself.

My condolences to those who were close to Nemtzov and his supporters.

[The Natural]

He will be missed, but perhaps his death will be a catalyst for change. That is all one can say at the moment.

Yes, maybe that was the intent; who benefits? Certainly not Mr. Putin.

I don't know the man, but of course are unhappy about any assassination. But unlike the western media, I don't know who did it. When one sees how this murder is being used by anti-Putinists, it makes you wonder.
Putin setting himself up like this? No, I don't buy it.

Modified.

This just in from Paul Craig Roberts:

The CIA may have just assassinated Boris Nemtsov in Moscow to blame Putin:

http://kingworldnews.com/paul-craig-roberts-cia-may-just-assassinated-boris-nemtsov-moscow-blame-putin/

[krimster2]

journalist Anna Politkovskaya fierce critic of Putin shot 4 times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya

journalist Paul Klebnikov fierce critic of Putin shot 4 times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klebnikov

journalist/opposition leader Boris Nemtsov fierce critic of Putin shot 4 times
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/russia-boris-nemtsov-shot_n_6772212.html

everybody knows that FSB assassinations use 4 shots and CIA uses only 3, so it couldn’t have been the CIA

[Boethius]

I am certain Berezovsky was behind Klebnikov's murder.  There are also rumours Klebnikov had been given explosive documents right before his death, about a link between the Kremlin and a Chechen reconstruction fund, and those documents never surfaced.


As for the woman with Nemtsov, Mendy, I don't find it unusual that she would have the presence of mind to memorize the licence plate, but not know how many shots were fired.  She wasn't expecting him to be shot.


Nemtsov's mother asked him "When will you stop cursing Putin?  He will kill you for that."  Nemtsov also was concerned about assassination.

[BillyB]

If Nemtzov would have been killed by Barack Obama on live TV people would still blame Putin.
Keep telling your stories, some day you might believe them yourself.

Story? You don't believe Putin would order an assassination? We don't have the problems in America that Russia is experiencing. When someone shot Reagan, most Americans accepted it was a disgruntled citizen, not the Democrats.


Russia is a different place of business. It seems EVERY oligarch, journalist and politician assassinated or thrown in prison during Putin's presidency have one thing in common, they disagreed with Putin. John McCain can criticize Obama daily, Obama can criticize the Republican party daily and journalists around the world can criticize all American politicians daily and nobody is worried about getting thrown in jail or assassinated.


Putin is going to put Russia's best men on this case. Those guys are good. They always find their man. I feel for the unlucky bastard that gets to be the scapegoat.

[krimster2]

"I am certain Berezovsky was behind Klebnikov's murder."

no,  Berezovsky contract killers use only 2 shots, only FSB uses four

[Boethius]

Klebnikov was shot nine times.

[krimster2]

some reports say 9, some say 4, if it was an FSB hit, it would be 4, 9 times seems like a lot to me and still be alive

[sunandsail]

Putin's investigation will get to the bottom of this.    I read he has hired OJ Simpson to assist with the detective work.   Together, Putin & OJ will catch the real killer(s).

[AkMike]

This combination picture made on Feb. 28 shows (from top to bottom, from left to right) Russian Human Rights activist Natalia Estemirova during a press conference in Grozny, Chechnya, on July 26, 2007, Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky during a memorial to murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in London, on October 13, 2006, leader of the Liberal Russia party Sergei Yushenkov during the congress of the movement 'Liberal Russia' in Moscow on February 08, 2003, former Russian intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko during a press conference in London on September 14, 2004, Russian opposition leader and former cabinet minister Boris Nemtsov during a press conference in Moscow on August 17, 2007, an undated and unlocated handout image made available on January 20, 2009 by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta of Russian human-rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, a handout photo provided on November 15, 2010 by Hermitage Capital Management and taken on December 29, 2006 of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in Moscow, an undated and unlocated handout image made available on January 20, 2009 by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta of Russian Novaya Gazeta reporter Anastasiya Baburova, and Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya of Moscow's Novaya Gazeta newspaper speaking in New York on October 16, 2002. The list of Kremlin opponents who have been killed or died in suspicious circumstances in recent years got longer with the slaying of prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow on Feb. 27.
© AFP
__________________

[mendeleyev]

Durth Vader

The person Killed got a lot of Funding from NED,, Which in turn is Supported by the US Government...

So in a way you could say he was in the Pay of Washington.

(sigh) Oh, ignorance will never cease, shall it?

Obviously you know little of the Foreign Agent law passed in 2012. Just as obviously you know little of the banning of NGOs by Russia, and specifically of USAID (which established the National Endowment for Democracy, NED).

Were Nemtsov receiving funds he would have already been in jail for such. Do you think that Washington could have kept such a little secret like that out of the FSB's view?

[Shadow]

Russia is a different place of business. It seems EVERY oligarch, journalist and politician assassinated or thrown in prison during Putin's presidency have one thing in common, they disagreed with Putin.

Selective journalism. Only the ones that disagree with Putin will reach the news. Besides that, if there is any kill the first thing journalists do it dig for any disagreement in order to show that it was the work of the Kremlin.

[mendeleyev]

Shadow, if there is a link that points elsewhere, journalists will be on it. There is no secret little pact in which journalists will only follow leads that cast negative light on Mr. Putin.

Don't worry, however. LifeNews, RT, and other media controlled by the Kremlin will have lots of spin of their own.

[Boethius]

I find it pretty amazing not only that the president would take "personal control" of the investigation, but even more amazing, that a hit could be carried out where it was, as that area of Moscow is covered in cameras and security.

[Brasscasing]

I find it pretty amazing not only that the president would take "personal control" of the investigation, but even more amazing, that a hit could be carried out where it was, as that area of Moscow is covered in cameras and security.

Yeah, it stinks to high heaven.

What's the bet the 'investigation' determines that it was another prominent opposition leader, political opponent or some one else who coincidentally also happens to be on Putin's 'to do' list.

Brass

[Larry1]

I find it pretty amazing not only that the president would take "personal control" of the investigation ...

There seems to be precedent for it though. Stalin personally took charge of the investigation of the assassination of Politburo member Sergei Kirov, when it's very likely that he ordered the assassination.

[calmissile]

There seems to be precedent for it though. Stalin personally took charge of the investigation of the assassination of Politburo member Sergei Kirov, when it's very likely that he ordered the assassination.

Perhaps Putin is not as cunning and bright as some give him credit for.  He must be starting to actaully believe his own lies and BS.
In this case he was not bright enough to know that by personally taking charge for the investigation of the #1 suspect will create a great deal of suspicion about himself.

With few exceptions (John Kerry), no international leader has publicly called him out as a pathological liar, and he seems to think the world is just dumb enough to continue to let him get away with it.  We will have to wait and see how this plays out.  Hopefully, someone else has copies of the files that were about to be exposed.  IT was interesting to note that the apartment was immediately ransacked and computers and files taken by the government.   

[AkMike]

Video feed of the murder.

http://www.tvc.ru/news/show/id/62541

[mendeleyev]

Location perspective: I took this photo sometime previously while standing inside Saint Basil's Cathedral.

In fairness, if someone wanted to smear the Kremlin, other than on Red Square proper, this would be an ideal spot. However, if ordered by someone connected to the Kremlin, this would be very brazen.

I think that you can click on the photo to make it larger.