Russians march in memory of murdered Kremlin critic

Moscow, March 1

Holding placards declaring “I am not afraid”, thousands of Russians marched in Moscow on Sunday in memory of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, whose murder has widened a split in society that some say could threaten Russia’s future.

Families, the old and young walked slowly, with many carrying portraits of Nemtsov, an opposition politician and former deputy prime minister who was shot dead while walking home from a restaurant in central Moscow on Friday night.

“If we can stop the campaign of hate that’s being directed at the opposition, then we have a chance to change Russia. If not then we face the prospect of mass civil conflict,” Gennady Gudkov, an opposition leader, told Reuters before the march.

“The authorities are corrupt and don’t allow any threats to them to emerge. Boris was uncomfortable for them.” His murder has prompted deep soul searching in a country where for years after the Soviet Union collapsed many yearned for the stability later brought by President Vladimir Putin.

Some now fear his rule has become an autocracy. Putin has vowed to pursue those who killed Nemtsov, calling the murder a “provocation”.

National investigators who answer to the Russian leader say they are pursuing several lines of inquiry, including the possibility that Nemtsov, a Jew, was killed by radical Islamists or that the opposition killed him to blacken Putin’s name.

Putin’s opponents say such suggestions show the cynicism of Russia’s leaders as they whip up nationalism, hatred and anti-Western hysteria to rally support for his policies on Ukraine and deflect blame for an economic crisis. — Reuters

Kerry calls for ‘transparent, real probe’  

• The US wants to see a "thorough, transparent, real investigation" into the killing of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday.
• Kerry said US intelligence did not know who was behind Nemtsov's death in Moscow. "The bottom line is we hope there will be a thorough, transparent, real investigation, not just of who actually fired the shots," Kerry said