Poroshenko: Nemtsov was killed because of evidence of Russia's role in the crisis in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expressed regret over the killing of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who he said represented "a bridge between Ukraine and Russia."

The president of Ukraine also said that Nemtsov was killed because he planned to reveal evidence of Russia's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.

Poroshenko paid tribute to Nemtsov, who was killed late last night, and said the fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him several weeks ago that he had evidence of Russia's role in the crisis in Ukraine and intended to make it public, Reuters reported.

"He said that he would reveal convincing evidence of the involvement of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. Someone was very afraid of this...They killed him," Poroshenko said in a televised statement during a visit to the city of Vinnitsa.

"He was a bridge between Ukraine and Russia. A killer's bullet destroyed it. I don't think it was accidental. I have no doubt that the killers will be punished. Sooner or later," Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page.

"I remember his smile and bold ideas. He was one of the few people I can call a friend," said Poroshenko.

And the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin, expressed his shock at the murder of Nemtsov, pointing out that he was the greatest friend that Ukraine had in Russia.

"I can't understand. There is no greater friend of Ukraine in Russia than him," Klimkin wrote on his Twitter account.

The Batkivshchyna party of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko also condemned the "savage murder" of the Kremlin critic.

"The murder of one of the few democratic politicians in Russia shows that the country is on the verge of disintegration," the party said in a statement.

Putin promised Nemtsov's mother that the murderer would be punished

Russian leader Vladimir Putin promised the mother of murdered politician Boris Nemtsov today that everything will be done to find and punish her son's killer, the Kremlin reports.

In a telegram sent to Dina Eidman, Nemtsov's mother, Putin says: "Everything will be done so that the organizers and executors of this heinous and cynical murder are punished."

He also said that Nemtsov left his mark on Russian history, politics and public life and that he always defended his views.

Found a car used in liquidation

Russian media reports that investigators have found the car used by the German killers.

It is a "Lada Priora" car with registration plates from Ingushetia.

Image of car purported to have carried Nemtsov's murderers has Ingush plates. pic.twitter.com/bLPSRrc6He

— Andrew Roth (@ARothNYT) February 28, 2015

The Russian authorities are examining several possible scenarios that potentially led to the murder, and one, as they state, is that Nemtsov was killed by colleagues from the opposition with the aim of making him a "martyr", it says. nytimes.com.

The aim of Nemtsov's suffering was additional affirmation and homogenization of the opposition forces gathered around the sacrifice Nemtsov made, according to the statement of the chief prosecutor.

Nemcov planned to seek asylum in Lithuania in 2012.

One of the leaders of the Russian opposition, Boris Nemtsov, who was killed on Friday evening in Moksva, planned to seek political asylum in Lithuania in 2012, fearing persecution by the Kremlin, former Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said today.

The former prime minister then promised Nemtsov that he would receive him in Lithuania, but the Russian opposition member decided to stay in Russia.

"Nemtsov said he feared he would be arrested," following opposition protests against Vladimir Putin's third presidential term in 2012, Kubilius said in a statement to France Presse.

"He asked if Lithuania would grant him political asylum. I suggested that he come immediately, but he still decided to stay in Russia," added the former Lithuanian prime minister.

Lithuania, a member of NATO and the European Union, is the harshest critic of Russia of the countries of the former Soviet Union. The authorities in Vilnius have on several occasions requested the tightening of sanctions against Russia due to the Ukrainian crisis.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said that the killing of Nemtsov shows that Russia has "sunk into the darkness of terror against its own people."

Nemtsov warned of threats

The murdered Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, warned the public weeks before his death that Vladimir Putin would kill him, writes The Independent.

Speaking to the Russian website Sobesednik on February 10, Nemtsov said: "I'm afraid that Putin will kill me. I believe that he is the one who initiated the conflict in Ukraine. I don't like him."

His friends said that Nemtsov had received a large number of threats via the Internet.

"Boris would occasionally receive threats via social networks...Boris was worried," said Ilja Jašin, the opposition leader.

"Even though he was often threatened, he never wanted additional protection. Boris would say "If they want to kill me, let them kill me".

Released video of Boris Nemtsov's killers?

Russian television "LifeNews TV" published a video of a white car, in which they were allegedly suspected of murdering opposition member Boris Nemtsov.

According to that television, the cameras recorded the car at 23.39:XNUMX p.m., just two minutes after unknown assailants fired several bullets at Nemtsov.

The Russian authorities, however, allowed the mourning march

Nemtsov prepared information about Russians in Ukraine

Opposition leader Ksenia Sobchak said that Nemtsov was preparing reports on the presence of Russian military facilities in Ukraine, and that he was therefore an active target.

With his death, the Russians lost "one of the most dedicated and eloquent defenders of their rights", US President Barack Obama said after Nemtsov's murder. "Nemtsov was a tireless advocate for his country, demanding from his fellow Russians the rights that belong to all people," the US president said.

Council of Europe Commissioner for Effective Investigation of Murder

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Nils Muiznieks, called on the Russian authorities this evening to conduct an "effective investigation" into the murder of Boris Nemtsov.

"I am shocked by the murder of Nemtsov. I express my condolences to his family, while the Russian authorities are obliged to punish the culprits," Muiznieks said on his Twitter account.

The Commissioner for Human Rights recalled that Nemtsov had been to the Council of Europe several times.

The leader of mass protests

Nemcov, like other opposition leaders, was a fighter against corruption. In earlier reports, he referred to the Russian authorities' huge spending on the Sochi Winter Olympics and published a list of government buildings, helicopters and planes at Putin's disposal.

Nemtsov was also one of the leaders of mass protests in the winter of 2011-2012, the largest since Putin, a former KGB agent, came to power in 2000. In the late 90s, Nemtsov was briefly the deputy prime minister, while the president of the country was Boris Yeltsin. In that period, Nemtsov became known as a leading liberal reformer.

"The life of a galley slave"

In August 2012, Nemtsov published a report sarcastically titled "Life of a Galley Slave," in which he claimed that President Vladimir Putin was spending billions of taxpayers' rubles on luxuries.

According to the report's authors - Nemtsov and Leonid Martinyuk - Putin spends 20 billion dollars a year on the maintenance of 43 luxury residences, 2,5 airplanes and four yachts.

Nemtsov pointed out that nine of Putin's 20 residences were added to the official list of presidential palaces, and that the restoration of some of these buildings cost tens of millions of dollars.

In addition to 20 residences, 43 airplanes and four yachts, Putin also has 15 helicopters and a large fleet of vehicles. The aircraft fleet alone is worth about one billion, Nemtsov claimed. There is also a collection of luxury watches worth around $700.000.

"Russian taxpayers pay for their maintenance as well as yachts, planes and cars about 2,5 billion dollars every year. This is the sum that one person spends on himself, which is equivalent to the costs of one region in Russia where 300 thousand people live. In which country is this permissible?" Nemtsov asked in the report.

Four bullets in the back

According to a statement from the Russian government, Nemtsov was killed by four gunshots.

The police also announced that several people witnessed the murder. A source from judicial circles told the Interfax agency that Nemtsov was shot from a white car, which then quickly drove away from the scene of the crime. The police spokeswoman said that at the time of the murder, Nemtsov was walking on the bridge over the Moscow River with Ukrainian model Anna Duritska, who was not injured. "Nemtsov died at 23.40:XNUMX p.m. after being shot in the back with four bullets," said the spokeswoman, according to Reuters.

Putin regrets and follows the investigation

Putin expressed regret over the killing and personally took over the investigation. According to him, it could be a matter of an ordered murder and a "provocation" ahead of the big opposition rally on Sunday in Moscow, which was supposed to be led by Nemtsov.

"It is incredible that an opposition leader can be killed next to the walls of the Kremlin. There is only one version possible: he was killed for speaking the truth," said Mikhail Kasyanov, Nemtsov's colleague from the opposition. Kasyanov, who was prime minister earlier in President Putin's term, called Nemtsov a "fighter for the truth." Nemtsov reportedly said Putin wanted him dead because of his opposition to Russia's role in the war in Ukraine. The aim of Sunday's opposition rally in Moscow was to protest the war in Ukraine.

Medvedev: Nemtsov's death is a great loss for society

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said today that the murder of one of the leaders of the opposition, Boris Nemtsov, is a "big loss" for society, "whose freedom and values ​​he always defended."

In a telegram of condolences to the family, published on the website of the Russian government, Medvedev called Nemtsov "one of the most talented politicians of the period of democratic reforms in Russia", adding that he was open and never betrayed his principles.

"I am shocked by the violent, cynical murder of Boris Nemtsov," the telegram states.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government, Arkady Dvorkovich, today, as the chairman of the regional Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum, spoke positively about Nemtsov's contribution to the democratic development of Russia and invited those present to observe him with a minute of silence.

Peskov: The murder of Nemec was a "provocation"

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that the murder of opposition member Boris Nemtsov is a "provocation", but that it will not affect the reputation of President Vladimir Putin, if the authorities do not find the killers soon.

Peskov told Radio Kommersant that Putin was immediately informed about murder of Nemtsov, but that he did not take the investigation under his personal control, but that he ordered the investigative authorities to establish an investigative group.

He also stated that Putin expressed his condolences to the family.

In his words, "that monstrous murder has all the signs of being ordered, and it looks very much like a big provocation" since he was in the opposition that was preparing a protest action on Sunday.

When asked about possible negative consequences for Putin's reputation, Peskov said that he "categorically disagrees with that". "Radical political scientists will say that this will harm Putin's reputation. But in this case, with all due respect to Nemtsov, he did not pose any political threat to the leadership of Russia and Putin. If we compare the popularity of Putin and the government as a whole, Nemtsov was just a little above the average citizen," said the Kremlin spokesman.

Gorbachev does not rule out the introduction of emergency measures

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said today that the murder of opposition member Boris Nemtsov was aimed at destabilizing the situation in Russia.

"The crime on the Moskvoret bridge, the murder of Boris Nemtsov, is an attempt to complicate the situation in the country, even destabilize it, to strengthen conflicts. If more and more forces appear that are inclined to fight with opponents in this way, it is very serious." Gorbachev told Interfax.

He urged not to rush to conclusions and to use all means to find criminals. When asked if he believes that there will be calls to introduce emergency measures in the country, he said that he does not rule out such a possibility.

"But if force is used, it will aggravate the situation in the country even more," he warned.

Gorbachev did not rule out that the murder of Nemtsov could be used by anti-Russian forces abroad. "Of course, certain forces will try to use it for their own purposes, because they are always thinking how to get rid of Putin. But I still think that in the West they will not go that way," he said.

In his words, the murder was a "premeditated political step", but that the organizers should not be sought in the USA or Ukraine, but in Russia itself.

Former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin also believes that Nemtsov's murder is an attempt to destabilize the situation in the country. "I, as the former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Security Service, believe that the murder of Nemtsov is an attempt not by the opposition, but by Putin's enemies to destabilize the situation in the country," Stepashin told Interfax.

The former leader of the Yabloko opposition party, Grigoriy Yavlinski, wrote in his blog that "the political responsibility for the murder of Nemtsov is borne by the government as a whole and by President Vladimir Putin himself - "those who started the war and carry out hate propaganda".

"It is a war that has come to us, brazenly. He was its opponent, and he wanted to stop the death of Ukrainians and Russians, who became victims of cynical militaristic propaganda. That is why they hated him, like all the opponents of the war, who were allowed to call things by their own names: "annexation, aggression, fratricide," Javlinski wrote.

Opposition member Ilja Jašin said that it was a political murder. "They killed one of the most prominent people of the Russian opposition, in order to frighten, instill terror," he added.

In social networks, prominent personalities describe the murder as horror, nightmare, sadness, provocation.