Over 70,000 march to commemorate slain Russian opposition figure Nemtsov
More than 70,000 people have marched in central Moscow in commemoration of assassinated prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov.
Carrying flowers and portraits, the mourners on Sunday marched to the bridge near the Kremlin where Nemtsov was gunned down.
"We believe that more than 70,000 have turned up," one of the organizers, Alexander Ryklin, told AFP on Sunday.
He added that many are still stranded in the subway.
However, police estimated the number of ralliers at around 16,000.
Russia's federal investigative agency said it was looking into several possible motives for Nemtsov's murder.
Opposition leader’s murder
Nemtsov (shown below) was shot dead on Friday night as he was walking across a bridge in the Russian capital.
According to Nemtsov’s lawyer, Vadim Prohorov, over the last few months the politician had started to receive death threats on social media sites.
The assassination came ahead of the annual spring opposition rally scheduled for March 1 in Moscow, which he was set to lead.
Nemtsov, 55, had co-chaired the pro-business Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party (RPR-PARNAS) since 2012.
In the 1990s, he served as the first deputy prime minister under former president, Boris Yeltsin.
Putin’s condemnation
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday condemned the killing as part of the smear campaign against the Russian leadership, saying it "had all the hallmarks of a contract killing and is entirely provocative in nature."
Putin (shown above) vowed to bring to justice those behind Nemtsov’s murder.
“Everything will be done for the organizers and executors of this vile and cynical murder to receive the punishment they deserve," read the statement issued by the Russian president.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the president would take “personal control” of the investigation into Nemtsov’s death.
“Putin noted that this cruel killing has all the signs of a hit, and is a pure provocation,” said Peskov.
SF/KA/SS
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