(Bloomberg) -- The funeral of slain Russian oppositionleader Boris Nemtsov took place in Moscow as thousands turnedout to pay their last respects, while his allies urged supportfor a new wave of protests against President Vladimir Putin.
Nemtsov, who was 55, was buried at the Troekurovskoecemetery on Tuesday after mourners, many bearing flowers, hadlined up for hours to file past his open casket at a memorialservice in the city. He was shot four times from behind whilewalking on a bridge just steps from the Kremlin last week beforehe was slated to lead a protest against Putin.
“It’s a terrible sign for Russia today,” Anna Kuritsina,30, a German-Russian translator from Moscow, said while standingin line, holding a red carnation. “I am frightened for thefuture. There is more uncertainty now than there was even in the1990s.”
Deputy Prime Ministers Arkady Dvorkovich and SergeyPrikhodko, carrying red flowers, attended the memorial serviceat the Andrei Sakharov Museum in Moscow, named for the physicistand dissident who later won the Nobel Peace Prize. Former PrimeMinister Mikhail Kasyanov, now an opposition activist, formerU.K. Prime Minister John Major, billionaire Mikhail Fridman andU.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft joined the mourners whopassed through a brick-walled room, lined with photographs ofNemtsov and past the open casket.
Applause, Flowers
Naina Yeltsina, widow of the late Russian President BorisYeltsin, who made Nemtsov a deputy prime minister in the 1990s,said that her husband “loved Boris Nemtsov very much,” as shepaid her respects at the memorial service, Tass news servicereported.
Supporters applauded and chanted “Russia will be free” asthe hearse bearing Nemtsov’s body drew away from the museum togo to the cemetery. Several hundred people gathered as priestsconducted the funeral ceremony and the coffin was lowered intothe grave, which was surrounded by flowers.
The murder of Nemtsov prompted more than 50,000 to join amarch in his memory on Sunday. Opposition activists, includingNemtsov, had originally planned a rally in a suburb of Moscow,betting that Russia’s gathering economic crisis would revivepublic support for their campaigns against the Kremlin.
During Putin’s third term in office, the country’srelations with the U.S. and European Union have deteriorated tothe worst point since the Cold War over a conflict in Ukrainethat has killed more than 6,000 and displaced more than 1million people. Russia’s economy is set to shrink 3 percent thisyear, the first contraction since 2009, hit by falling oilprices and U.S. and EU sanctions.
Protest ‘Wave’
“We need to seriously think what to do from now on,”Leonid Volkov, an opposition leader and organizer of the March 1memorial, said by phone. “We were at a low point but now somethings have crystallized that allow us to make plans. I thinkit’s the start of a new wave of protests. It’s a real shame ittook such an event for that to happen.”
Nemtsov was assassinated in one of the country’s mostheavily guarded spots, where security cameras monitorpractically every inch. As investigators gather evidence,Russia’s Federal Guard Service said on Monday that its camerasat the Kremlin didn’t record the killing, which took place awayfrom their area of surveillance, RIA Novosti reported.
Security Cameras
The head of a Moscow charity organization, MityaAleshkovskiy, contradicted this statement, however, afterpublishing photographs on his Facebook page on Monday that hesaid were taken on the night Nemtsov was killed. Aleshkovskiy, aformer photographer, wrote that the pictures showed that camerason the Kremlin wall pointed “exactly at the place of themurder.”
No video is available of the shooting because cameras inthe area were not working, Kommersant newspaper reported onMonday, citing unidentified Interior Ministry sources. At thesame time, Yelena Novikova, a spokeswoman for Moscow’sinformation technology department, said that all cameras“belonging to the city” were operating properly on the nightNemtsov died, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Anna Duritskaya, the Ukrainian model who was with Nemtsovwhen he was gunned down late on Friday, said that the killer hadapproached from behind before escaping.
“I didn’t see the man,” she told Russia’s TV Rain in aninterview on Monday. “Turning around, I only saw a light-colored car leaving, but I didn’t see what model or itsregistration.”
‘Vile’ Murder
Grainy footage from a security camera on the opposite sideof the bridge, released by the TVC television channel, appearsto show the killer escaping from the scene. The moment of theshooting is blocked by a snow plow on the road next to Nemtsov.
Putin said in a telegram of condolences to Nemtsov’s motherthat everything would be done to punish the organizers of the“vile and cynical” murder.
Russia’s opposition has blamed the government for creatingan atmosphere that led to the slaying after anti-Putin activistswere labeled “fifth columnists” on state television and atpro-Kremlin protests.
A Moscow court refused a request by opposition leaderAlexey Navalny to attend the funeral, according to RIA. Navalnyhad been due to lead the original anti-Putin protest until hewas jailed for 15 days on Feb. 20 for handing out leaflets.
Putin has taken the investigation under his “personalcontrol” and believes the killing to be a provocation, hisspokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday. Russia’s criminalinvestigative committee has said it is looking at severalpossible motives, including whether Nemtsov was a sacrificiallamb to destabilize Russia or if Islamist extremists angry overhis support for French magazine Charlie Hebdo killed him.
“Even without the state propaganda, the attitude toNemtsov was negative,” Alexandra Borisova, 24, a computerprogrammer from Moscow, said in line at his wake. “In Russia,they don’t love liberals.”
To contact the reporters on this story:Anton Doroshev in Moscow at adoroshev@bloomberg.net;Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.netTony Halpin, Scott Rose
Nemtsov, who was 55, was buried at the Troekurovskoecemetery on Tuesday after mourners, many bearing flowers, hadlined up for hours to file past his open casket at a memorialservice in the city. He was shot four times from behind whilewalking on a bridge just steps from the Kremlin last week beforehe was slated to lead a protest against Putin.
“It’s a terrible sign for Russia today,” Anna Kuritsina,30, a German-Russian translator from Moscow, said while standingin line, holding a red carnation. “I am frightened for thefuture. There is more uncertainty now than there was even in the1990s.”
Deputy Prime Ministers Arkady Dvorkovich and SergeyPrikhodko, carrying red flowers, attended the memorial serviceat the Andrei Sakharov Museum in Moscow, named for the physicistand dissident who later won the Nobel Peace Prize. Former PrimeMinister Mikhail Kasyanov, now an opposition activist, formerU.K. Prime Minister John Major, billionaire Mikhail Fridman andU.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft joined the mourners whopassed through a brick-walled room, lined with photographs ofNemtsov and past the open casket.
Applause, Flowers
Naina Yeltsina, widow of the late Russian President BorisYeltsin, who made Nemtsov a deputy prime minister in the 1990s,said that her husband “loved Boris Nemtsov very much,” as shepaid her respects at the memorial service, Tass news servicereported.
Supporters applauded and chanted “Russia will be free” asthe hearse bearing Nemtsov’s body drew away from the museum togo to the cemetery. Several hundred people gathered as priestsconducted the funeral ceremony and the coffin was lowered intothe grave, which was surrounded by flowers.
The murder of Nemtsov prompted more than 50,000 to join amarch in his memory on Sunday. Opposition activists, includingNemtsov, had originally planned a rally in a suburb of Moscow,betting that Russia’s gathering economic crisis would revivepublic support for their campaigns against the Kremlin.
During Putin’s third term in office, the country’srelations with the U.S. and European Union have deteriorated tothe worst point since the Cold War over a conflict in Ukrainethat has killed more than 6,000 and displaced more than 1million people. Russia’s economy is set to shrink 3 percent thisyear, the first contraction since 2009, hit by falling oilprices and U.S. and EU sanctions.
Protest ‘Wave’
“We need to seriously think what to do from now on,”Leonid Volkov, an opposition leader and organizer of the March 1memorial, said by phone. “We were at a low point but now somethings have crystallized that allow us to make plans. I thinkit’s the start of a new wave of protests. It’s a real shame ittook such an event for that to happen.”
Nemtsov was assassinated in one of the country’s mostheavily guarded spots, where security cameras monitorpractically every inch. As investigators gather evidence,Russia’s Federal Guard Service said on Monday that its camerasat the Kremlin didn’t record the killing, which took place awayfrom their area of surveillance, RIA Novosti reported.
Security Cameras
The head of a Moscow charity organization, MityaAleshkovskiy, contradicted this statement, however, afterpublishing photographs on his Facebook page on Monday that hesaid were taken on the night Nemtsov was killed. Aleshkovskiy, aformer photographer, wrote that the pictures showed that camerason the Kremlin wall pointed “exactly at the place of themurder.”
No video is available of the shooting because cameras inthe area were not working, Kommersant newspaper reported onMonday, citing unidentified Interior Ministry sources. At thesame time, Yelena Novikova, a spokeswoman for Moscow’sinformation technology department, said that all cameras“belonging to the city” were operating properly on the nightNemtsov died, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Anna Duritskaya, the Ukrainian model who was with Nemtsovwhen he was gunned down late on Friday, said that the killer hadapproached from behind before escaping.
“I didn’t see the man,” she told Russia’s TV Rain in aninterview on Monday. “Turning around, I only saw a light-colored car leaving, but I didn’t see what model or itsregistration.”
‘Vile’ Murder
Grainy footage from a security camera on the opposite sideof the bridge, released by the TVC television channel, appearsto show the killer escaping from the scene. The moment of theshooting is blocked by a snow plow on the road next to Nemtsov.
Putin said in a telegram of condolences to Nemtsov’s motherthat everything would be done to punish the organizers of the“vile and cynical” murder.
Russia’s opposition has blamed the government for creatingan atmosphere that led to the slaying after anti-Putin activistswere labeled “fifth columnists” on state television and atpro-Kremlin protests.
A Moscow court refused a request by opposition leaderAlexey Navalny to attend the funeral, according to RIA. Navalnyhad been due to lead the original anti-Putin protest until hewas jailed for 15 days on Feb. 20 for handing out leaflets.
Putin has taken the investigation under his “personalcontrol” and believes the killing to be a provocation, hisspokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday. Russia’s criminalinvestigative committee has said it is looking at severalpossible motives, including whether Nemtsov was a sacrificiallamb to destabilize Russia or if Islamist extremists angry overhis support for French magazine Charlie Hebdo killed him.
“Even without the state propaganda, the attitude toNemtsov was negative,” Alexandra Borisova, 24, a computerprogrammer from Moscow, said in line at his wake. “In Russia,they don’t love liberals.”
To contact the reporters on this story:Anton Doroshev in Moscow at adoroshev@bloomberg.net;Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.netTony Halpin, Scott Rose
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