Mailonline reports that 55-year-old former deputy Prime Minister in the 1990s,
Boris Nemtsov, who was once seen as a possible successor to
Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first elected president, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on the streets of Moscow yesterday evening. An unidentified assassin fired him four times while he was walking with a woman across a bridge.
He was shot in the back just metres from the Kremlin shortly after midnight local time. His female companion, a Ukrainian citizen, was unhurt.
President Putin condemned the murder and said it may have been a contract killing, according to Russian news agencies. His spokesman,
Dmitry Peskov, said the shooting could also be a 'provocation' as the opposition has planned a big protest in Moscow on Sunday.
He said Putin had been quickly informed of the killing and that the president had expressed his condolences and ordered the security agencies to investigate.
Britain has said it will follow closely investigations into the killing. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said:
'We are shocked and saddened by news that former Russian deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov has been shot and killed in Moscow.
Our thoughts are with his family and we offer our condolences to them. We deplore this criminal act. Those responsible must be brought to justice. We will continue to follow the situation closely.'
US President
Barack Obama has also condemned the 'brutal murder', the White House National Security Council said tonight on Twitter. The White House called on the Russian government to conduct a 'prompt, impartial and transparent investigation' and to 'ensure those responsible are brought to justice.'
'We offer our sincere condolences to his family and to the Russian people, who have lost one of the most dedicated and eloquent defenders of their rights,' he said.
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