{"id":95339,"date":"2015-03-01T09:28:18","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T09:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=95339"},"modified":"2015-03-01T09:28:18","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T09:28:18","slug":"photos-russians-to-march-in-memory-of-murdered-putin-critic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=95339","title":{"rendered":"[Photos] Russians to march in memory of murdered Putin critic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opposition supporters will march through Moscow on Sunday in memory of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, whose murder has increased concern about Russia’s future among opponents of President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people laid flowers and lit candles on Saturday on a bridge near the Kremlin where the opposition politician and former deputy prime minister was shot dead late on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"People
People gather at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, with St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin walls seen in the background, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Maxim Zmeyev<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

National investigators who answer to Putin say they are pursuing several lines of inquiry, including the possibility that Nemtsov, a Jew, was killed by radical Islamists or that the opposition killed him to blacken the president’s name.<\/p>\n

\"Ilya
Ilya Yashin (L) and Ksenia Sobchak, Russian opposition activists and acquaintances of Boris Nemtsov, react as they visit the place where Nemtsov was shot dead in central Moscow February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/George Malets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Putin’s opponents say such suggestions show the cynicism of Russia’s leaders as they whip up nationalism, hatred and anti-Western hysteria to rally support for his policies on Ukraine and deflect blame for an economic crisis.<\/p>\n

\"People
People visit the site where Boris Nemtsov was shot dead in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It is a blow to Russia. If political views are punished this way, then this country simply has no future,” Sergei Mitrokhin, an opposition leader, said of Nemtsov’s murder.<\/p>\n

\"People
People visit the site where Boris Nemtsov was shot dead near the Kremlin and Red Square in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Putin has described the killing as a “provocation”, and told Nemtsov’s mother that the killers would be found and punished.<\/p>\n

\"Opposition
Opposition activist Ilya Yashin lays flowers at the site where Boris Nemtsov was murdered in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some Muscovites, accepting a line repeated by state media, appear to agree that the opposition, struggling to make an impact after a clampdown on dissent in Putin’s third spell as president, might have killed one of their own.<\/p>\n

\"People
People react at the site, where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The authorities definitely do not benefit from this. Everybody had long forgotten about this man, Nemtsov … It is definitely a ‘provocation’,” said one Moscow resident, who gave his name only as Denis.<\/p>\n

\"Grigory
Grigory Yavlinsky, politician and acquaintance of Boris Nemtsov, lays flowers as he visits the site of the murder in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PUTIN REMAINS DOMINANT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nemtsov, who was 55, was one of the leading lights of an opposition struggling to revive its fortunes, three years after mass rallies against Putin that failed to prevent him returning to the presidency after four years as prime minister.<\/p>\n

\"A
A woman lays flowers in memory of Boris Nemtsov, who was recently murdered in Moscow, in Independence Square in Kiev, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Valentyn Ogirenko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Putin has now been Russia’s dominant leader since 2000, when ailing President Boris Yeltsin chose the former KGB spy as his successor, a role Nemtsov had once been destined to play.<\/p>\n

\"Russia's
Russia’s former Prime Minister and an opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov (front) addresses the media as he visits the place where Boris Nemtsov was shot dead, in central Moscow February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Maxim Shemetov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even many of Putin’s opponents have little doubt that he will win another six years in power at the next election, due in 2018, despite a financial crisis aggravated by Western economic sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and a fall in oil prices.<\/p>\n

\"Opposition
Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov speaks to the media during a gathering of opposition supporters in central Moscow March 17, 2012. REUTERS\/Mikhail Voskresensky\/Files<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many opposition leaders have been jailed on what they say are trumped-up charges, or have fled the country.<\/p>\n

\"People
People gather at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nemtsov had hoped, however, to start the opposition’s revival with a march in Marino on the outskirts of Moscow on Sunday to protest against Putin’s economic policies and what they see as Russia’s involvement in the separatist war in east Ukraine. The Kremlin denies any role in the fighting.<\/p>\n

\"A
A photo, an icon and flowers are placed at the site where Boris Nemtsov was shot dead, near the Kremlin in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Announcing a new plan after Nemtsov’s death, Leonid Volkov, one of the organizers, said: “The march in the Marino district which we had planned – a positive march with flags and balloons – does not fit this tragic moment and the magnitude of Nemtsov’s persona, as well as the magnitude of the red line we have now crossed and which we have not yet recognized.”<\/p>\n

\"A
A visitor holds a photo at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The opposition said Moscow city authorities had approved the march from 3 p.m. (1200 GMT), allowing for up to 50,000 people, though the organizers say more could show up to march alongside the River Moskva.<\/p>\n

\"A
A woman reacts as she visits the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nemtsov had said in an interview that he feared Putin may want him dead because of his outspoken criticism of Russia’s role in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\"A
A group (front) of foreign ambassadors and officials visit the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, with St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin walls seen in the background, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Maxim Zmeyev<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Nemtsov had told him about two weeks ago that he planned to publish evidence of Russian involvement in Ukraine’s separatist conflict.<\/p>\n

“Someone was very afraid of this … They killed him,” Poroshenko said in televised comments shown in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\"People
People lay flowers at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Sergei Karpukhin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kiev, the West and some Russians accuse Moscow of sending troops and weaponry to support separatist rebels who have risen up in east Ukraine, an accusation Russia has denied.<\/p>\n

\"Medics
Medics carry the body of Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead, in central Moscow February 28, 2015. REUTERS\/Maxim Shemetov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Others saw the murder as a result of a climate of fear where Putin demands total loyalty and supporters go to great lengths to do what they think may please him.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opposition supporters will march through Moscow on Sunday in memory of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, whose murder has increased concern about Russia’s future among opponents of President Vladimir Putin. Thousands of people laid flowers and lit candles on Saturday on a bridge near the Kremlin where the opposition politician and former deputy prime minister was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":95354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-95339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-papa-owusu-ankomah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}