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Two Detained After The Murder Of Putin Opposition Leader And Politician Boris Nemtsov

Katie Frates Editor-in-chief of The Daily Walkthrough
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Two men believed to be involved in the murder in Moscow of a vocal Putin opposition leader were detained Saturday.

Boris Nemtsov, 55, was a leader in RPR-PARNAS, the Republican Party of Russia. He was shot four times in the back and killed in a drive-by shooting on Feb. 27 as he was walking near Moscow’s Red Square.

In a statement on Russian government-owned Channel One, Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov announced that Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev were detained in connection with Nemtsov’s murder, BBC News reports.

Nemtsov, who had accused Putin of starting a war against Ukraine and opposed the annexation of Crimea, was supposed to lead a massive rally against the Ukraine war on March 1. After his murder, the protest was cancelled. Instead, over 50,000 people marched through Moscow and past the Kremlin on March 1, carrying pictures of Nemtsov and signs reading “I am not afraid.” (RELATED: ‘I Am Not Afraid’: Massive Protests Sweep Moscow After Putin Critic Killed)

He had expressed concern earlier this month that President Vladimir Putin would have him killed. Immediately following the murder, Russian media blamed a host of different groups for Nemtsov’s death, including Islamic extremists, Ukrainian fascists and the Central Intelligence Agency. (RELATED: Russia Tries Every Tactic To Downplay Opposition Leader’s Murder)

The woman Nemtsov was with, 23-year-old Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, has said Russian authorities have banned her from traveling to Ukraine following the murder.