Thousands march on 2nd anniversary of Kremlin critic's murder

Supporters of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov paid tribute to him on Saturday, gathering in Moscow a year after he was shot to death on a bridge near the Kremlin.

Boris Nemtsov's daughter says investigation failed to uncover who ordered shooting

Thomson Reuters Posted: Feb 26, 2017 9:38 AM EST | Last Updated: February 26, 2017

Former opposition politician Gennady Gudkov, centre, takes part in Sunday's march held in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down outside the Kremlin two years ago. (Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press)

Thousands of Russians marchedthrough the centre of Moscow on Sunday to honour oppositionleader Boris Nemtsov two years after he was gunned down near theKremlin walls, and to call for further investigations into hiskilling.

The 55-year-old Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister andprominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead on abridge near the Kremlin late in the evening of Feb. 27, 2015, ashe walked home with his girlfriend from a restaurant.

People with flags of different opposition movements march in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow. (Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press)

Investigators have charged several Chechen men with themurder, but lawyers for Nemtsov's daughter said theinvestigation had failed to uncover who ordered the shooting.

Putin has said that he supported the investigation intoNemtsov's murder.

This poster carried at Sunday's march reads: Heroes do not die! Russia will be free! (Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press)

"We gathered here to demand bringing of Boris Nemtsov'skillers to justice, not only its performers but also itsorganizers and those who ordered it," Ilya Yashin, a Russianopposition activist and an organizer of the march, told Reuters.

"We gathered here to demand political reforms and release ofpolitical prisoners."

Opposition activist Ilya Yashin was among the participants in the march. (Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press)

The march coincided with the release of an anti-Kremlinactivist Ildar Dadin from a Siberian prison on Sunday. He was
the first person jailed under new rules that made some forms ofnon-violent protest a criminal offence.

The authorities blocked off several streets in centralMoscow for Sunday's event, sealing in the marchers with metal
fencing guarded by police.

Opposition leader and former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov wipes paint from his face after he was attacked just before the start of the procession. (Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press)

Police put the number of marchers at 5,000, but a group ofvoluntary observers said there were more than 15,000demonstrators.

The march gathered together political parties and oppositionmovements. "Boris Nemtsov is a hero of Russia," read one banner.

Some carried portraits of Nemtsov and chanted "Russiawithout Putin" and "Russia will be free."

Boris Nemtsov, seen at a rally in Moscow on June 12, 2012, was on the verge of disclosing new information about the Russian military's involvement in Ukraine's conflict when he was killed, according to friends of the long-time opposition leader and former deputy prime minister. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

"Hands off Ukraine," some people chanted.

Nemtsov had authored an excoriating report on Putin's ruleand, shortly before he was killed, had been working on a reportexamining the Russian military's role in Ukraine.

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Thousands march on 2nd anniversary of Kremlin critic's murder

Boris Nemtsov's daughter says investigation failed to uncover who ordered shooting

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