Free Republic

Nemtsov founded a number of opposition movements after leaving the Russian parliament in 2003 and he had served as the co-chair of the opposition Republican Party of Russia - People's Freedom Party since 2012. He was a prominent and vocal critic of Mr Putin, denouncing him for Russia's part in the Ukraine crisis, its worsening economic situation, and the alleged corruption surrounding preparations for the Sochi Olympic Games in 2014.

A top political nemesis of President Vladimir Putin was shot and killed early Saturday in central Moscow, Russian police said, one day before an opposition rally was scheduled to take place. Boris Nemtsov, 55, a former deputy prime minister, was shot four times from a passing car as he was walking on a bridge just outside the Kremlin. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Alexeyeva told reporters on the scene that Nemtsov was walking with a female acquaintance, a Ukrainian citizen, when a vehicle drove up and unidentified assailants shot him dead. The woman wasn't hurt.

Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition politician and former deputy prime minister, has been shot dead in central Moscow, the Interior Ministry said early on Saturday. Nemtsov, 55, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, had been due to take part on Sunday in the first big opposition protest in months in the Russian capital. He was shot four times late on Friday night, not far from the Kremlin in the centre of Moscow. Police cars blocked the street where he was shot. An ambulance was also nearby. "Nemtsov B.E. died at 2340 hours as a result of four shots in...

Irina Khakamada is running for president but her campaign headquarters are not bustling. Phones aren't ringing off the hook and no one is barking instructions. This is no Clinton-style war room, yet this lone warrior still looks battle-weary. She says she harbors no illusions of unseating President Vladimir Putin, but that's not the point. "We're fighting so that people raise their voices," she says, not fighting to win. "That costs less." But it's not clear just who is raising their voices in support. Speculation that she is a mercenary front for the Kremlin or oligarch interests has made it difficult...

“He is so oppressed by Putin. Here in Russia, Luka (Alexander Lukashanko is meant) has the image of a clown and kind of an outcast. It is wonderful. However, you should finish him off. You shouldn’t become united with him. Why do you plan to unite with him, with this freak?”