Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov shot dead in Moscow: government

[Jefferson23]

* Terrible news..devastating.

Reuters) - The Russian opposition politician and former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov has been shot and killed by four shots in central Moscow, the Russian government said in a statement, according to the Interfax news agency.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-russia-nemtsov-idUSKBN0LV2LA20150227

[geek tragedy]

1. It takes tremendous courage to oppose the gangsters in the Kremlin.

I certainly wouldn't have the courage to oppose them.

[Jefferson23]

2. I am in total shock mode...this good man said about two weeks ago that he

felt Putin would have him killed during an interview...Russian publication.

[geek tragedy]

3. I wish this shocked me.

But this is exactly what I would expect.

[Jefferson23]

4. No..this is not the usual shit Putin regime antics..this is a great shock to those

who supported him.

[geek tragedy]

5. Part of the migration towards an explicitly fascist, totalitarian government.

This isn't the first dissident Putin has murdered.

Won't be the last.

[Jefferson23]

6. This is in fact a very big shock, so please., it is a turn

for the worse..yes. But it is not typical..no one is murdered in front of the Kremlin.

Russians will be very much afraid now..more than before. There is no doubt in
my mind this was political..but of course we do not know for certain, yet.

Terrible loss today...beyond words.

[progressoid]

7. wish I could say I'm surprised.

[Jefferson23]

8. White House to make statement shortly. n/t

[Jefferson23]

9. Russian Opposition Leader Shot Dead In Moscow

A former deputy prime minister of Russia who later became one of Vladimir Putin’s top opponents died on Friday after being shot four times on the street in central Moscow.

LifeNews, a pro-Kremlin cable channel with barely concealed links to Russia’s security services, reported that Boris Nemtsov, 55, died in a gangland-style shooting just outside the Kremlin on Friday night. Nemtsov died on the scene from wounds to his back, the TASS state news agency reported.

Russian media gave differing accounts of whether Nemtsov was shot by one or multiple assailants, citing police sources. The killer or killers managed to escape despite the fact that the attack took place on a bridge just south of Red Square, one of Russia’s most heavily guarded and surveilled locations, Russian media reported.

“I’m standing on the bridge and looking at Nemtsov’s body on the ground. He’s definitely been killed,” Nemtsov’s lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, told the Kommersant newspaper.
Ilya Yashin, a fellow opposition politician, confirmed Nemtsov’s death. “They shot Nemtsov,” he wrote. “He’s dead.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/russian-opposition-leader-shot-dead-just-outside-the-kremlin#.vjVyPZXyOL

[Jefferson23]

10. 2009. Remember how much he risked for Russia, this very honorable man, Boris Nemtsov..RIP:

snip* Russia's embattled and marginalized opposition will get a badly needed boost when some of the Kremlin's fiercest critics meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Moscow.

Obama is scheduled to attend a civil society summit organized by nongovernmental organizations on July 7, followed by a meeting with opposition leaders including Boris Nemtsov, a founder of the umbrella group Solidarity, and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who heads the Other Russia movement.

In an interview with RFE/RL, Nemtsov said he didn't expect "anything earth-shattering" to come from the meeting, which will also be attended by Sergei Mitrokhin of the liberal Yabloko party and by Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov. But symbolically, he said, the gathering was significant.

"It is important for Russia that the world knows that Russia isn't just official Putinism, with its strategy of corrupt state capitalism," Nemtsov said.

"There are also people and political forces who absolutely do not agree with this. There are people who understand that this is a dead end and that there is an alternative," Nemtsov said. "That alternative is a free and democratic Russia."

http://www.rferl.org/content/Obama_Wades_Into_Russian_Politics/1770784.html

[blkmusclmachine]

11. He got JFK'd.

[Blue_Tires]

12. I thought Snowden said Russia was a bastion of human rights?

The assassination was probably close enough for Snowden to hear the gunshots through his window

[Jefferson23]

13. This is a tragic time for all the oppostion that exists in Russia against Putin.

Snowden was quite naive when he spoke with Putin, hoping he could extract
some level of honesty from him...he was not in a position to take advantage
of Putin..was a mistake, to say the least.

[Jefferson23]

14. Obama condemns killing of Russian opposition figure Nemtsov, calls for impartial investigation

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is condemning the killing of prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov.

Obama says in a statement that Nemtsov was brutally murdered. He's calling on Russia's government to perform a "prompt, impartial and transparent" investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Nemtsov is a former deputy prime minister who later became a prominent opposition leader and a sharp critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The 55-year-old was shot and killed in Moscow just outside of the Kremlin.

Obama is calling Nemtsov a "tireless advocate" for Russia and for the rights of Russian citizens. He's praising Nemtsov for fighting corruption.

Obama and Nemtsov met in Moscow in 2009.

The killing comes as the U.S. and Russia are at odds over Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/294450951.html

[imthevicar]

15. With over an 85% Approval,

Why would Putin Do this? the answer, He Didn't. look at who has the most to gain in this happening and you will find the perpetrator! Attention Dullis Bros inc.

[MattSh]

16. So True...

I'm stunned sometimes about just how few people attempt to figure out who will benefit. There's no benefit to Putin in this. This guy very much is a has been. But will forces outside the country who hope to start an uprising in Russia benefit? Too early to tell, but they're hoping that something might happen, which is more than they could have hoped for before.

[CJCRANE]

17. It's like being back in the bizarro world

of the early Bush years again, a constant stream of events that are never fully explained before moving on to the next spectacle.

But this time DUers aren't ahead of the curve. Instead they're mostly happy to jump on the mainstream bandwagon.

[imthevicar]

18. That's becaus It's ok When our side does it!

The other side is a bunch of bastards! /S

[polynomial]

19. Embarrassing connections

An article appeared on DU that made me think about the American Bush political family with an embarrassing connection to the person in the attempted shooting of Ronald Reagan. The Bush family was tightly associated to the brother of the shooter. Poppy Bush may have been quickly promoted like LBJ.

There is so much history in the American side that would not surprise me if American money supported such murder in Russia. Such openly addressed murders could very well reflect secrets even Snowden unknowingly handed to the Russians that would condemn the Bush American crime family.

Seems the Bush family has a dark side that is never reported in mainstream media. Bush history having the courage to flaunt power and wheeled calamities, starting wars with a profiteering flare in partnerships seems to be their creative notch in society.

The sooner the Bush war family is banished from politics the better.