GetWiki

{{Short description|Russian scientist, statesman and liberal politician (1959–2015)}}{{Family name hatnote|Yefimovich|Nemtsov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}

factoids

| native_name_lang = ru| image = Boris Nemtsov 2014.jpg{{!}}border| caption = Nemtsov in 2014Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation>Deputy Prime Minister of Russia| term_start = 28 April 1998| term_end = 28 August 1998| president = Boris Yeltsin| primeminister = Sergey KirienkoViktor Chernomyrdin (acting)| office1 = First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia| term_start1 = 17 March 1997| term_end1 = 28 April 1998| alongside1 = Anatoly ChubaisAlexei Bolshakov (politician)>Alexei BolshakovViktor IlyushinVladimir Potanin| successor1 = Sergey Kiriyenko| president1 = Boris Yeltsin| primeminister1 = Viktor Chernomyrdin| office2 = 1st Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast| term_start2 = 30 November 1991| term_end2 = 17 March 1997| predecessor2 = Position established| successor2 = Ivan Petrovich Sklyarov19599|df=y}}Sochi, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic>Russian SFSR, Soviet Union20152710df=y}}| death_place = Moscow, RussiaAssassination of Boris Nemtsov>AssassinationUnion of Right Forces (1999–2008)Solidarnost (2008–2010)People’s Freedom">People’s Freedom Party “For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption">People’s Freedom (2010–2012)RPR-PARNAS (2012–2015)| spouse = Raisa Ahmetovna (separated)Zhanna Nemtsova>ZhannaMedal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” (second degree, 1995); Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Fifth degree, 2006, Ukraine);RU:Борис НемцовACCESS-DATE=30 APRIL 2018LANGUAGE=RUARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20210110222236/HTTPS://WWW.LIVELIB.RU/AUTHOR/208578-BORIS-NEMTSOVOrder of Liberty (Ukraine)>Order of Liberty (Ukraine, posthumously);IRI Freedom Award (the US, posthumously).filename=Boris Nemtsov voice.ogatitle=Boris Nemtsov’s voicedescription=recorded March 2013}}| footnotes = {{Collapsible list|titlestyle = background:lavender;text-align:center;|title = Other offices held|bullets = on| 2013–2015: Member of the Russian regional parliament of Yaroslavl Oblast| 2012–2015: Co-chairman of the Republican Party of Russia – People’s Freedom Party| 2005–2006: Free lance adviser to Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko| 2000–2003: Leader of the Union of Right Forces parliamentary group| 2000: Deputy Chairmen of the State Duma| 1999–2003: Member of the State Duma from the 117th single-member districtSecurity Council of Russia>Security CouncilMinistry of Energy (Russia)>Federal Minister of Fuel and EnergyFederation Council of Russia>Federation Council from Nizhny Novgorod OblastGovernor (Russia)>Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast| 1991: Member of the Council of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union| 1991–1994: Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast| 1991–1993: Member of the Supreme Soviet of RussiaCongress of People’s Deputies of the Russian SFSR>People’s Deputy of the Russian SFSR from Gorky district}}}}Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov{{efn|; }} (9 October 1959{{spaced ndash}}27 February 2015) was a Russian physicist, liberal politician, and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Early in his political career, he was involved in the introduction of reforms into the Russian post-Soviet economy.NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov-reported-killed-in-moscow/2015/02/27/972e15f0-becb-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html, Putin critic, Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov killed in Moscow, Birnbaum, Michael, Branigan, William, Washington Post, 28 February 2015, 1 March 2015, 17 December 2019,web.archive.org/web/20191217213800/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov-reported-killed-in-moscow/2015/02/27/972e15f0-becb-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html, live, In the 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin, he was the first governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (1991–1997). Later he worked in the government of Russia as Minister of Fuel and Energy (1997), Vice Premier of Russia and Security Council member from 1997 to 1998. In 1998, he founded the Young Russia movement.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} In 1998, he co-founded the coalition group Right Cause and in 1999, he co-formed Union of Right Forces, an electoral bloc and subsequently a political party. Nemtsov was also a member of the Congress of People’s Deputies (1990), Federation Council (1993–97) and State Duma (1999–2003).From 2000 until his death, he was an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. He criticized Putin’s government as an increasingly authoritarian, undemocratic regime, highlighting widespread embezzlement and profiteering ahead of the Sochi Olympics, and Russian political interference and military involvement in Ukraine.Putin Critic Boris Nemtsov Shot Dead {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502080516www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/27/389598306/putin-critic-boris-nemtsov-shot-dead|date=2 May 2015}}, NPR.org, 27 February 2015. After 2008, Nemtsov published in-depth reports detailing the corruption under Putin, which he connected directly with the President. As part of the same political struggle, Nemtsov was an active organizer of and participant in Dissenters’ Marches, Strategy-31 civil actions and rallies “For Fair Elections”.Nemtsov was assassinated on 27 February 2015, beside his Ukrainian partner Anna Durytska, on a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow,Zimmerman, Malia (4 March 2015). “Crossing the Kremlin: Nemtsov latest in long line of Putin critics to wind up dead” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307014434www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/04/crossing-kremlin-nemtsov-latest-in-long-line-putin-critics-to-wind-up-dead/ |date=7 March 2015 }}, Fox News.NEWS, Amos, Howard, Millward, David, Leading Putin critic gunned down outside Kremlin, The Telegraph, London, 27 February 2015,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11441466/Veteran-Russian-opposition-politician-shot-dead-in-Moscow.html, 4 April 2018, 7 October 2019,web.archive.org/web/20191007071730/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11441466/Veteran-Russian-opposition-politician-shot-dead-in-Moscow.html, live, with four shots fired from the back.Kramer, Andrew E. (27 February 2015) “Boris Nemtsov, Putin Foe, Is Shot Dead in Shadow of Kremlin” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728223320www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/world/europe/boris-nemtsov-russian-opposition-leader-is-shot-dead.html?_r=0 |date=28 July 2019 }}, The New York Times. At the time of his assassination, he was in Moscow helping to organize a rally against the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the Russian financial crisis. At the same time, he was working on a report demonstrating that Russian troops were fighting alongside pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, which the Kremlin had been denying, and was unpopular externally but also in Russia.NEWS, Birnbaum, Michael, Branigan, William, 28 February 2015, Putin critic, Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov killed in Moscow, Washington Post,www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov-reported-killed-in-moscow/2015/02/27/972e15f0-becb-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html, live, 3 March 2015,web.archive.org/web/20191217213800/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov-reported-killed-in-moscow/2015/02/27/972e15f0-becb-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html, 17 December 2019, In the weeks before his death, he expressed fear that Putin would have him killed.WEB, Russia opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead,www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31669061, 27 February 2015, BBC News, 30 April 2018, 23 June 2019,web.archive.org/web/20190623051053/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31669061, live, In late June 2017, five Chechnya-born men were found guilty by a jury in a Moscow court for agreeing to kill Nemtsov in exchange for 15 million rubles (US$253,000); neither the identity nor whereabouts of the person who hired them is officially known.WEB, 2017-07-13, Фигуранты дела об убийстве Немцова осуждены на сроки от 11 до 20 лет,rapsinews.ru/moscourts_news/20170713/279322135.html, 2022-03-28, РАПСИ, ru,

Early life

Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov was born in Sochi in 1959 to Yefim Davidovich Nemtsov and Dina Yakovlevna Nemtsova (née Eidman).Russian Opposition Blames Putin for Murder of Jewish Politician Boris Nemtsov {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143428jewishbusinessnews.com/2015/02/28/russian-opposition-blames-putin-for-murder-of-jewish-politician-boris-nemtsov/ |date=12 June 2018 }}, Jewish Business News, 28 February 2015WEB,www.geni.com/people/Dina-Nemtsova/6000000031811876353, Dina Yakovlevna Nemtsova, 3 March 1928, His mother, a physician, is Jewish.Nemtsov was raised in Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod.Boris Nemtsov, Biography {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023214240nemtsovfund.org/en/boris-nemtsov-2/ |date=23 October 2021 }}, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom His parents divorced when he was five years old. In his autobiography, Nemtsov recounts that his Russian Orthodox paternal grandmother had him baptized as an infant, and that he became{{when|date=March 2015}} a practicing Orthodox Christian.WEB,www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838459&ct=875489, Russian Jewish Elites and Antisemitism (07 of 13), Krichevsky, Lev, American Jewish Committee, 20 May 2005, dead,www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838459&ct=875489," title="web.archive.org/web/20090508141926www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838459&ct=875489,">web.archive.org/web/20090508141926www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838459&ct=875489, 8 May 2009, dmy-all, He found out about his baptism many years later.Allensworth, Wayne (1998). The Russian Question. Rowman & Littlefield, {{ISBN|0-8476-9003-2}}. p. 289

Studies and academic career

From 1976 to 1981, Nemtsov studied physics at State University of Gorky in the city of Gorky, receiving a degree in 1981.WEB, Немцов Борис (Ефимович), Финансовый словарь Финам.,dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/fin_enc/25740/Немцов, 10 January 2021, 21 November 2018,web.archive.org/web/20181121020927/https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/fin_enc/25740/%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%86%D0%BE%D0%B2, live, Aged 25 in 1985, he defended his dissertation for a PhD in Physics and Mathematics from the State University of Gorky.WEB, Boris Nemtsov, Moscow Times, 25 March 2011,www.themoscowtimes.com/people/article/boris_nemtsov/433791.html, 5 March 2015, 4 March 2016,www.themoscowtimes.com/people/article/boris_nemtsov/433791.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20160304222209www.themoscowtimes.com/people/article/boris_nemtsov/433791.html,">web.archive.org/web/20160304222209www.themoscowtimes.com/people/article/boris_nemtsov/433791.html, live, Until 1990, he worked as a research fellow at the Radiophysical Research Institute,BOOK, Nemt︠s︡ov, Boris,www.worldcat.org/oclc/171274658, Ispovedʹ buntari︠a︡, Немцов, Борис., 2007, Partizan, 978-5-91114-004-5, Moskva, 171274658, and produced more than 60 academic publications related to quantum physics, thermodynamics and acoustics.Nemtsov, B. SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110153100adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-abs_connect?return_req=no_params&author=Nemtsov,%20B.%20E.&db_key=PHY |date=10 January 2016 }}, adsabs.harvard.edu; accessed 30 April 2018.He proposed a theoretical model for an acoustic laserJOURNAL, Nemtsov, Boris, Akusticheskii Zhurnal, 1991, Coherent mechanism of sound generation during vapor condensation, 970–977, 37, 5, 1991AkZh...37..970N,www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_5_970-977.pdf, 2 March 2015, 10 January 2016,www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_5_970-977.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20160110153101www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_5_970-977.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20160110153101www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_5_970-977.pdf, live, JOURNAL, Kotyusov, A. N., Nemtsov, B., Akusticheskii Zhurnal, 1991, Acoustic “laser”, 123–29, 1, 37,www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_1_123-129.pdf, 2 March 2015, 10 January 2016,www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_1_123-129.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20160110153101www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_1_123-129.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20160110153101www.akzh.ru/pdf/1991_1_123-129.pdf, live, and a novel design of antennas for space probes.WEB, Борис Немцов: биография убитого оппозиционера,www.imenno.ru/2015/02/28/296517, imenno.ru, 28 February 2015, 28 February 2015, 14 December 2018,imenno.ru/2015/02/28/296517/," title="web.archive.org/web/20181214121226imenno.ru/2015/02/28/296517/,">web.archive.org/web/20181214121226imenno.ru/2015/02/28/296517/, live,

Political career, 1986–2004

File:Vladimir Putin with Boris Nemtsov-1.jpg|thumb|Boris Nemtsov, leader of the Union of Right ForcesUnion of Right Forces(File:Boris Nemtsov 2003 RussiaMeeting.JPG|thumb|Nemtsov at the World Economic Forum, 2 October 2003, Moscow)File:Obama, Gozman, Nemtsov, Zyuganov, Mizulina, Mitrokhin.jpg|thumb|Barack Obama and Russian political leaders, namely liberals Leonid Gozman, Boris Nemtsov, communist Gennady Zyuganov, social democrat Yelena Mizulina and social liberal Sergey MitrokhinSergey MitrokhinIn the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, Nemtsov organized a protest movement in his hometown which effectively prevented construction of a nuclear-fired boiler plant in the region.In 1989, Nemtsov unsuccessfully ran for the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies on a reform platform which for the time was quite radical, promoting ideas such as multiparty democracy and private enterprise.NEWS,www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?search=1&volume_id=4&issue_id=189&article_id=2244, Jamestown Foundation, Prism (Jamestown), Prism, Profile of Boris Nemtsov: Russia’s newest first deputy premier, 18 April 1997, dead,www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?search=1&volume_id=4&issue_id=189&article_id=2244," title="web.archive.org/web/20070930191549www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?search=1&volume_id=4&issue_id=189&article_id=2244,">web.archive.org/web/20070930191549www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?search=1&volume_id=4&issue_id=189&article_id=2244, 30 September 2007, In Russia’s first free elections of 1990, he ran for the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Republic representing Gorky, later renamed Nizhny Novgorod. Nemtsov was elected, the only non-communist candidate. He defeated twelve others.JOURNAL, Chinayeva, Elena, 1996, Boris Nemtsov, A Rising Star of the Russian Provinces, Transitions, 2, 4, 36–38, Once in Parliament he joined the “Reform Coalition” and “Centre-Left” political groups.In the Russian parliament, Nemtsov was on the legislative committee, working on agricultural reform and the liberalization of foreign trade. In this position he met Boris Yeltsin, who was impressed with his work. During the October 1991 attempted coup by Soviet hardliners, Nemtsov vehemently supported the president and stood by him during the entire clash. After those events, Yeltsin rewarded Nemtsov’s loyalty with the position of presidential representative{{clarify|date=March 2015}} in his home region of Nizhny Novgorod.In November 1991, Yeltsin appointed him Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. He was re-elected to that position by popular vote in December 1995. His tenure was marked by a wide-ranging, chaotic free market reform program nicknamed “Laboratory of Reform” for Nizhny Novgorod and resulted in significant economic growth for the region. Nemtsov’s reforms won praise from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who visited Nizhny Novgorod in 1993.From the very outset of Nemtsov’s tenure as governor, according to Serge Schmemann, Nemtsov “embarked on a whirlwind campaign to transform the region, drawing enthusiastic support from a host of Western agencies.” Although the province was closed to foreigners for years and “there wasn’t even enough paper money for the privatization program”, he was optimistic about Moscow’s future and consequently “pushed ahead on his own, even issuing his own money – chits, to be eventually exchanged for rubles that came to be known as ‘Nemtsovki.’” Nemtsov very openly looked to the West as a model for Russia’s future. Nemtsov, Schmemann observed, adopted the westernized title “Governor” rather than the Russian “Head of Administration”.NEWS, Schmemann, Serge, The Brilliant Boris Nemtsov: A Reformer Who Never Backed Down, The New York Times, 2 Mar 2015,www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/opinion/the-brilliant-boris-nemtsov-a-reformer-who-never-backed-down.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region, 21 February 2017, 27 January 2020,web.archive.org/web/20200127101935/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/opinion/the-brilliant-boris-nemtsov-a-reformer-who-never-backed-down.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region, live, After Nemtsov’s death, Leonid Bershidsky recalled meeting him in 1992 during his tenure as governor. “A brilliant young physicist”, recounted Bershidsky, “he was trying to practice liberal economics in a gloomy Soviet-era industrial city that had long been off-limits to foreigners.” Bershidsky described his eloquence and demeanor as that of “a Hollywood movie politician transplanted into the Russian hinterland.“WEB, Leonid Bershidsky, The Russia That Died With Boris Nemtsov, Bloomberg, 27 February 2015,www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-28/the-russia-that-died-with-boris-nemtsov, 5 March 2015, In December 1993, Nemtsov was elected to the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament. During the election campaign he was backed by Russia’s Choice and Yabloko, which were then the principal liberal parties in the country.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}In 1996, Nemtsov brought Yeltsin a petition with one million signatures against the First Chechen War, which he had signed himself.WEB, Isabella Kolar, Interview mit Boris Nemzow von 2014,www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/interview-mit-boris-nemzow-von-2014-wer-stirbt-zuerst-putin.979.de.html?dram:article_id=313028, Deutschland Radio, 3 March 2015, 2 March 2015, 8 March 2015,www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/interview-mit-boris-nemzow-von-2014-wer-stirbt-zuerst-putin.979.de.html?dram:article_id=313028," title="web.archive.org/web/20150308124738www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/interview-mit-boris-nemzow-von-2014-wer-stirbt-zuerst-putin.979.de.html?dram:article_id=313028,">web.archive.org/web/20150308124738www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/interview-mit-boris-nemzow-von-2014-wer-stirbt-zuerst-putin.979.de.html?dram:article_id=313028, live, In March 1997, Nemtsov was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, with special responsibility for reform of the energy sector. He was tasked with restructuring the monopolies and reforming the housing and social sectors.NEWS,www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/from-the-archives-yeltsin-recruits-top-young-reformer-nemtsov/article23235987, From the archives: Yeltsin recruits top young reformer Nemtsov, York, Geoffrey, The Globe and Mail, March 1997, 2 March 2015, 1 March 2015,www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/from-the-archives-yeltsin-recruits-top-young-reformer-nemtsov/article23235987/," title="web.archive.org/web/20150301124720www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/from-the-archives-yeltsin-recruits-top-young-reformer-nemtsov/article23235987/,">web.archive.org/web/20150301124720www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/from-the-archives-yeltsin-recruits-top-young-reformer-nemtsov/article23235987/, live, He became popular with the public and appeared favoured to become President of Russia in 2000. Boris Yeltsin introduced him to Bill Clinton as his chosen successor.WEB, Nemtsov’s Career Traces Arc of Russia’s Dimmed Hopes for Democracy, Wall Street Journal, White, Gregory L.,www.wsj.com/articles/boris-nemtsovs-career-traces-arc-of-russias-dimmed-hopes-for-democracy-1425168024, 28 February 2015, 1 March 2015, 2 March 2015,www.wsj.com/articles/boris-nemtsovs-career-traces-arc-of-russias-dimmed-hopes-for-democracy-1425168024," title="web.archive.org/web/20150302050032www.wsj.com/articles/boris-nemtsovs-career-traces-arc-of-russias-dimmed-hopes-for-democracy-1425168024,">web.archive.org/web/20150302050032www.wsj.com/articles/boris-nemtsovs-career-traces-arc-of-russias-dimmed-hopes-for-democracy-1425168024, live, In the summer of 1997, opinion polls gave Nemtsov over 50% support as a potential presidential candidate. His political career, however, suffered a blow in August 1998 following the crash of the Russian stock-market and the ensuing economic crisis.Nemtsov had worked in Moscow’s “White House” for only a year and a half, although he stated he had some success. He ended the corrupt act of stashing budget funds in commercial banks. He also managed to introduce an anti-corruption law for all state purchases in the government. He also helped to end the illegal export of raw materials and made oil sales more transparent. “And, most importantly, while I was the minister responsible for fuel and energy, oil was at barely 10 US dollars per barrel, and still we managed to save Russia. Things were difficult, what with social unrest, strikes, the war in Chechnya, the ‘default’, and still – let me repeat – we did save Russia.“WEB, Shakirov, Mumin, Who was Mister Putin? An Interview with Boris Nemtsov, Open Democracy, 2 Feb 2011,www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/mumin-shakirov/who-was-mister-putin-interview-with-boris-nemtsov, 30 April 2018, 27 January 2018,web.archive.org/web/20180127084816/https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/mumin-shakirov/who-was-mister-putin-interview-with-boris-nemtsov, live, As part of Anatoly Chubais’ economic team, Nemtsov was forced to resign his position of Deputy Prime Minister.BOOK, Yeltsin, Boris N., 2000, Midnight Diaries, translated by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, 1-56511-413-2, 99, After the dismissal of Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin in 1998,{{clarify|date=March 2015}} Nemtsov was reappointed Deputy Prime Minister, but resigned shortly afterwards when Yeltsin dissolved the government. According to The Economist, Nemtsov, unlike many other top government figures, “emerged from the troubled 1990s with his reputation intact.“NEWS, Frozen Out, The Economist, 6 January 2011,www.economist.com/node/17851285, 8 January 2011, 10 January 2011,www.economist.com/node/17851285," title="web.archive.org/web/20110110140433www.economist.com/node/17851285,">web.archive.org/web/20110110140433www.economist.com/node/17851285, live, As early as 1998, Nemtsov had a personal website on RuNet. Nemtsov.ru sought to provide information to its users that was not available elsewhere and also was one of the first attempts by a politician to establish two-way communication with an audience.BOOK, Russia and the Information Revolution, Peterson, D.J., Rand Corporation, 2005, 0-8330-4101-0, In August 1999, Nemtsov became one of the co-founders of the Union of Right Forces, a then new liberal-democratic coalition which received nearly 6 million votes, or 8.6% of the vote, in the parliamentary elections in December 1999. Nemtsov himself was elected to the State Duma, or lower house of Parliament, and became its Deputy Speaker in February 2000. In May 2000, Sergei Kiriyenko resigned and Nemtsov was elected leader of the party and its parliamentary group.{{who|date=March 2015}} Over 70% of delegates at the Union of Rightist Forces congress in May 2001 confirmed him as party leader. According to Nemtsov, the Union “always consisted of two factions, a Nemtsov faction and a Chubais faction”, with the former “based on principles and ideology whereas the Chubais faction was pragmatic, existing by the rules of realpolitik.“In 2002, his name appeared on a list of several individuals the hostage-takers during the Moscow theater hostage crisis were willing to speak to directly. Nemtsov did not take part in the negotiations and later said that Putin had ordered him not to go.By 2003, Nemtsov was in a difficult political position – while he vehemently believed President Vladimir Putin’s policies were rolling back democracy and civic freedoms in Russia, he needed to collaborate with the powerful co-chairman of the Union of Rightist Forces, Anatoly Chubais, who favoured a conciliatory line towards the Kremlin. In the parliamentary elections of December 2003, the Union of Rightist Forces platform headed by both Nemtsov and Chubais received just 2.4 million votes, 4% of the total, and thus fell short of the 5% threshold necessary to enter Parliament and as a result lost its seats. In January 2004, Nemtsov resigned from the party leadership. He became Chairman of the Council of Directors of Neftianoi, an oil company, and also a political advisor to Ukrainian president Viktor Yuschenko.BOOK, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian, Smorodinskaya, Routledge, 420,books.google.com/books?isbn=1136787860, 978-1-136-78786-7, 2013,

Later career, 2004–2015

(File:3 Немцов - За Россию без произвола и коррупции.ogv|thumb|Rally of the “For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption” coalition, 2010)(File:Митинг “Партии народной свободы” за честные выборы 16 апреля 2011 года - 6.ogv|thumb|Rally of the “For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption” coalition, 2011)In January 2004, Nemtsov co-authored an article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta entitled “Appeal to the Putinist Majority”, with his longtime adviser and party colleague Vladimir V. Kara-Murza. This article warned of the danger of an impending Putin dictatorship. Later the same month, he co-founded “Committee 2008”, an umbrella group of the Russian opposition which also included Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Bukovsky and other prominent liberals.BOOK, Politics Russia, Danks, 2014, Catherine, 433, 978-1317867418, Routledge, In February 2004, Nemtsov was appointed as a director of the Neftyanoi Bank, and as Chairman of Neftyanoi Concern, an oil firm and the bank’s parent company. In December 2005, however, prosecutors announced an investigation of the bank following allegations of money laundering and fraud. Nemtsov subsequently stepped down from both his positions, saying that he wanted to minimize political fallout for the bank from his continuing involvement in Russian politics. Nemtsov also alleged that his bank perhaps was targeted because of his friendship and support of former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who had stated his intention to run for president in 2008.Pronina, Lyuba (20 December 2005). “Nemtsov resigns from bank post”, Moscow Times.During the 2004 Ukrainian presidential elections, Nemtsov came out as a strong supporter of the eventual winner Viktor Yushchenko, while the Russian government backed his opponent, Viktor Yanukovych. Shortly after the Orange Revolution, as the elections and series of protests in Ukraine came to be called, Yushchenko appointed Nemtsov as an economic adviser.“Ukraine President Appoints Former Liberal Russian Lawmaker”, Dow Jones International News, 14 February 2005. Nemtsov’s main goal was to improve business ties between Ukraine and Russia, damaged after the Putin government strongly supported Yushchenko’s opponent in the presidential election. Yushchenko’s selection of Nemtsov was controversial owing to Nemtsov’s vocal criticism of Putin.“Ukraine Lawmakers Urge Yushchenko To Sack Russian Adviser”, Dow Jones International News, 3 June 2005.The relationship between Nemtsov and the Ukrainian government became unstable in the middle of 2005 following accusations that Nemtsov had criticized Ukrainian cabinet decisions, and a group of legislators called for Yushchenko to fire Nemtsov. Despite the criticism, he remained as an economic adviser to Yushchenko until October 2006, when the office of the Ukrainian president announced that Nemtsov had been “relieved of his duties as a freelance presidential adviser”.RIA Novosti (9 October 2006). “Ukraine President Dismisses Boris Nemtsov from Adviser Post”.(File:Moscow rally 4 February 2012, Yakimanka Street, Bolotnaya Square 24.JPG|thumb|Moscow rally, Yakimanka Street, Bolotnaya Square, February 2012)Nemtsov was briefly a candidate for the presidency of Russia in the 2008 election. On 26 December 2007, Nemtsov withdrew his candidacy for the 2008 election, saying that he did not want to draw votes away from the other candidate of the “democratic opposition”, Mikhail Kasyanov.newsfromrussia.com/news/russia/26-12-2007/103181-nemtsov_election_president-0" title="web.archive.org/web/20070621012400newsfromrussia.com/news/russia/26-12-2007/103181-nemtsov_election_president-0">“Nemtsov no longer presidential candidate”, Pravda.ru, 26 December 2007. Nemtsov said he was no longer running partly because of a belief that the government had predetermined the election’s winner.WEB, Russia’s March 2008 Presidential Election: Outcome and Implications,www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RS22831.html, CSR, 9 June 2019, 13 March 2008, 1 October 2019,web.archive.org/web/20191001124925/https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RS22831.html, live, On 13 December 2008, Nemtsov and Garry Kasparov co-founded the political opposition movement Solidarnost (Solidarity).WEB,www.rferl.org/content/Russian_Opposition_Founds_New_Movement/1359584.html, Russian Opposition Founds New Movement, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 14 December 2008, 6 December 2011, 30 January 2012,www.rferl.org/content/Russian_Opposition_Founds_New_Movement/1359584.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20120130034459www.rferl.org/content/Russian_Opposition_Founds_New_Movement/1359584.html,">web.archive.org/web/20120130034459www.rferl.org/content/Russian_Opposition_Founds_New_Movement/1359584.html, live, The organization hoped to unite the opposition forces in Russia. Nemtsov said in February 2011 that Solidarity had “done everything it could to resolve” conflicts within the opposition and that those “who are trying to create a rift among the opposition, whether consciously or unconsciously, are helping Putin stay in power.“At a Solidarnost meeting on 12 March 2009, Nemtsov announced that he would run for mayor of Sochi in the city’s 26 April election.WEB,www.rferl.org/content/Nemtsov_To_Run_For_Mayor_Of_Sochi/1509440.html, Nemtsov To Run For Mayor of Sochi, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 13 March 2009, 6 December 2011, 5 June 2011,www.rferl.org/content/Nemtsov_To_Run_For_Mayor_Of_Sochi/1509440.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20110605122856www.rferl.org/content/Nemtsov_To_Run_For_Mayor_Of_Sochi/1509440.html,">web.archive.org/web/20110605122856www.rferl.org/content/Nemtsov_To_Run_For_Mayor_Of_Sochi/1509440.html, live, As a Sochi native, he had criticized plans to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics in the town. He believed it was this criticism which led Nashi members to attack him with ammonium chloride on 23 March 2009.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7959819.stm, BBC News, Kremlin critic in ammonia attack, 23 March 2009, 26 April 2010, 26 March 2009,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7959819.stm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090326134959news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7959819.stm,">web.archive.org/web/20090326134959news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7959819.stm, live, In a March 2010 interview, Nemtsov criticized the decision to hold a Winter Olympics in Sochi, saying that Putin had “found one of the only places in Russia where there is no snow in the winter. ... Sochi is subtropical. There is no tradition of skating or hockey there. In Sochi, we prefer football, and volleyball, and swimming. Other parts of Russia need ice palaces{{snd}}we don’t.” The construction at the Olympics site was “disastrous” for the local economy, he added, saying that about 5,000 citizens had been removed from their homes to build Olympic facilities. He also added that “thanks to the corruption and incompetence of authorities, [these people have] not yet been adequately compensated for their property or been given equivalent housing elsewhere, as they were promised. Billions of dollars have simply disappeared.“WEB, Keating, Joshua, Why is a subtropical gangster’s paradise hosting the next Winter Olympics?, Foreign Policy, 1 Mar 2010,foreignpolicy.com/2010/03/01/interview-boris-nemtsov/, 5 March 2017, 19 March 2017,foreignpolicy.com/2010/03/01/interview-boris-nemtsov/," title="web.archive.org/web/20170319054531foreignpolicy.com/2010/03/01/interview-boris-nemtsov/,">web.archive.org/web/20170319054531foreignpolicy.com/2010/03/01/interview-boris-nemtsov/, live, On 27 April 2009, it was announced that the acting Sochi mayor and United Russia candidate Anatoly Pakhomov had won the election with 77% of the vote.NEWS, BBC News, Pro-Putin mayor elected in Sochi,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8019918.stm, 27 April 2009, 27 April 2009, 30 April 2009,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8019918.stm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090430214908news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8019918.stm,">web.archive.org/web/20090430214908news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8019918.stm, live, Nemtsov, who came second with around 14% of the vote, contested the fairness of the election, alleging that he was denied media access and that government workers had been pressured to vote for Pakhomov.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}File:Встреча Медведева с руководителями незарегистрированных партий 1.jpg|thumb|Russian President Dmitry MedvedevDmitry MedvedevNemtsov was among the 34 original signatories of the online anti-Putin manifesto “Putin must go”, published on 10 March 2010.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} Six months later, in September 2010, together with Vladimir Ryzhkov, Mikhail Kasyanov and Vladimir Milov, Nemtsov formed the “For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption” party, which, three months later was transformed into the People’s Freedom Party.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} In May 2011, the party submitted an application for registration to the Ministry of Justice, but one month later it was denied.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}In response to the question “Nemtsov, Milov and Ryzhkov and others, what do they really want?” in a live television broadcast on 16 December 2010, Putin stated that during the 1990s “they dragged a lot of billions along with Berezovsky and those who are now in prison... They have been pulled away from the manger, they had been spending heavily, and now they want to go back and fill their pockets”.WEB,ria.ru/politics/20101216/309511640.html, Путин призвал не допустить во власть тех, кто “поураганил” в 90-е годы, 16 December 2010, РИА Новости, 28 February 2015, 2 April 2015,ria.ru/politics/20101216/309511640.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20150402141634ria.ru/politics/20101216/309511640.html,">web.archive.org/web/20150402141634ria.ru/politics/20101216/309511640.html, live, In January 2011, Nemtsov, Milov and Ryzhkov brought suit over Putin’s statement before the Moscow City Court, but the following month the suit was dismissed. According to the judge, Tatiana Adamova, the names of Nemtsov, Milov and Ryzhkov were used merely as common names to refer to a certain class of politicians.Борис Немцов стал именем нарицательным {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510095753www.kommersant.ru/doc/1590640 |date=10 May 2011 }}. Kommersant, 24 February 2011Nemtsov had befriended Michael McFaul, probably at some point before the latter was named US Ambassador to Russia in December 2011. Ambassador McFaul reminisces the Nemtsov told him that the best way for Putin to be stopped was to help Ukraine adopt Western values, because then Putin’s argument, that all Slavic people were similar and doomed to succumb to autocratic rule, would be falsified and Putin would inevitably fall.NEWS, Ukraine, Russia, and the Future of the Liberal Order – Hagel lecture series,www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlWfEyRl430, YouTube, The University of Chicago, 10 April 2023, In a May 2013 report, Nemtsov stated that up to $30 billion had been stolen from funds allocated for the Sochi Olympics. He accused the Putin administration of cronyism and embezzlement of funds on a level so grand it posed a threat to Russian national security. He suggested “establishing a civic committee in charge of the investigation of the crimes committed around the Olympic project.“WEB, Nemtsov Alleges Billions Embezzled From Sochi Olympics, Radio Free Europe: Radio Liberty, 5 March 2015,www.rferl.org/content/russia-nemtsov-sochi-billions-embezzled/25002191.html, 30 April 2018, 19 August 2016,www.rferl.org/content/russia-nemtsov-sochi-billions-embezzled/25002191.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20160819092521www.rferl.org/content/russia-nemtsov-sochi-billions-embezzled/25002191.html,">web.archive.org/web/20160819092521www.rferl.org/content/russia-nemtsov-sochi-billions-embezzled/25002191.html, live, (File:Boris Nemtsov - Winter Olympics in the Subtropics (2014-01-30).webm|thumb|Nemtsov about Winter Olympics in the subtropics, 2014)

Arrests in 2007, 2010, and 2011

Nemtsov was arrested on 25 November 2007 during an unauthorized protest against President Putin near the State Hermitage Museum. Nemtsov and other opposition figures had complained of official harassment, and the police force had been used a number of times to break up what was then known as Dissenters’ Marches. Nemtsov was released later that day.NEWS, Police arrest scores at opposition rally in Russia, The New York Times, 25 November 2007, 1 March 2015,www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/europe/25iht-russia.4.8470583.html, 28 November 2016,www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/europe/25iht-russia.4.8470583.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20161128140031www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/europe/25iht-russia.4.8470583.html,">web.archive.org/web/20161128140031www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/europe/25iht-russia.4.8470583.html, live, On 31 December 2010, he was arrested with other opposition leaders during a rally against government restrictions on public protests. He was sentenced on 2 January 2011 to 15 days in jail.NEWS, Schwirtz, Michael, Arrests in Russia Signal Divisions Over Dissent, The New York Times, 3 January 2011,www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/world/europe/04russia.html, 7 January 2011, 5 April 2015,www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/world/europe/04russia.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20150405175820www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/world/europe/04russia.html,">web.archive.org/web/20150405175820www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/world/europe/04russia.html, live, The arrests were condemned by US Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman,NEWS, Russians React Badly to U.S. Criticism on Protests, The New York Times,www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/world/europe/07russia.html, Ellen Barry, 6 January 2011, 7 January 2011, 4 April 2015,www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/world/europe/07russia.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20150404000650www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/world/europe/07russia.html,">web.archive.org/web/20150404000650www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/world/europe/07russia.html, live, and by Amnesty International, which described him as a prisoner of conscience.www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/russian-activists-jailed-over-freedom-assembly-protest-2011-01-04" title="web.archive.org/web/20110106092501www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/russian-activists-jailed-over-freedom-assembly-protest-2011-01-04">Russian activists jailed over freedom of assembly protest 4 January 2011NEWS, Associated Press, 19 held at Moscow protests of opposition jailing, The Washington Post,www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010502347.html, 5 January 2011, 7 January 2011, {{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Economist called his arrest “a new low” in the governance of Russia. “The mistreatment of him seems pointlessly malevolent. ... He poses no threat to the government. The rally was authorized and he was on his way home when the police stopped him. He was charged with disobeying the police and swearing, despite video footage that showed him asking the police to ‘calm down’. A judge would not admit this as evidence. The court disregarded witness statements supporting him and would not let him appeal against his conviction.“In a February 2011 interview, Nemtsov recalled that the cell in which he was imprisoned “was a stone dungeon, about one and a half by three metres, veiled in semi-darkness so it was impossible to read. There was no bed, no pillows or mattresses, just the floor.” He stated that his glasses, belt, and shoelaces were confiscated and he was given substandard living quarters. He attributed the decision to detain him to Vladislav Surkov, Deputy Chief of the Russian President’s Administration and called it “a political decision.” Nemtsov filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, which accepted it and agreed to handle the case through its new urgent procedure.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}During the 6 December 2011 protests in Moscow, Nemtsov was arrested with at least one hundred other demonstrators.NEWS, Daniel Sandford,www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16052329, Russia election: Protesters defy rally ban in Moscow, BBC News, 6 December 2011, 6 December 2011, 6 December 2011,www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16052329," title="web.archive.org/web/20111206172628www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16052329,">web.archive.org/web/20111206172628www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16052329, live,

Political views

File:Марш за мир и свободу (13).jpg|thumb|270px|March of Peace, slogan “For Russia and Ukraine without Putin!”, Moscow, 15 March 2014]]After his dismissal from the government, Nemtsov became an important actor in the political discourse and eventually in the opposition to Putin’s government. Nemtsov’s political beliefs have caused some to characterize him as a “new liberal”.JOURNAL, 10.1080/09668139998480, Social Inequality in Post-communist Russia: The Attitudes of the Political Elite and the Masses (1991-1998), Europe-Asia Studies, 51, 7, 2010, Shlapentokh, V., 1167–81, 20506617, In February 2011, Nemtsov said: “Everyone is unhappy with Putin, save perhaps his closest friends.” He noted that “for three consecutive years capital has been flowing out of the country, with some 40 billion dollars being taken out of the country in 2010 alone.” As a result, “even within his party of corrupt thieves there are not so many people willing to follow him until the very end.“Nemtsov said:Putin had used the Moscow theatre siege to impose a regime of total censorship on TV; he went on to destroy NTV, and then TV-6. He used the nightmare of Beslan to remove democratic elections of regional governors. In short, he ‘drowned’ everyone apart from the terrorists. Nemtsov also stated:There is a myth spreading about how, in the 1990s, we democrats were pals with oligarchs while Putin was fighting them. It was exactly the other way around. We did not let Berezovsky get a foothold in (the world’s largest natural gas company) Gazprom, we did not allow him to take over the Svyazinvest company (Russia’s largest telecom holding). Yet Putin used to go to his birthday parties and bring flowers to his wife. It was Berezovsky who lobbied for Putin to become president and then financed his campaign.Nemtsov told Newsweek in September 2011 that Putin’s decision to run for president again “was predictable, but we were shocked by the hypocrisy and cynicism of the announcement: he declared he was coming back long before the elections. Putin and Medvedev did not even bother to share their decision to swap their chairs with the United Russia party before the congress. Russians had no choice but face his final decision; his usurpation of political power is sickly humiliating.” Nemtsov said that all of his “friends in big business” planned “to take their capital out of Russia”, while some “prefer to emigrate.“WEB, Anna Nemtsova, To the Streets!, The Daily Beast, 26 September 2011,www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/26/boris-nemtsov-russian-opposition-leader-interview.html, 30 April 2018, 21 June 2016,www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/26/boris-nemtsov-russian-opposition-leader-interview.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20160621192629www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/26/boris-nemtsov-russian-opposition-leader-interview.html,">web.archive.org/web/20160621192629www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/26/boris-nemtsov-russian-opposition-leader-interview.html, live, In a March 2012 op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Nemtsov and Garry Kasparov expressed support for “the repeal of the Jackson–Vanik amendment that impedes American trade relations with Russia”. Nemtsov and Kasparov stated that at “opposition meetings following the fraudulent March 4 election”, they and their associates “publicly resolved that Mr. Putin is not the legitimate leader of Russia.” They explained that they wanted “the U.S. and other leading nations of the Free World [to] cease to provide democratic credentials to Mr. Putin”, and asked that the U.S. replace Jackson–Vanik with the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act and thus improve relations between the United States and the people of Russia all while refusing aid to the Putin regime.WEB, Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov, The Right Way to Sanction Russia, Wall Street Journal, 15 March 2012,www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577281210489679138, 5 March 2017, 3 December 2016,www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577281210489679138/," title="web.archive.org/web/20161203214244www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577281210489679138/,">web.archive.org/web/20161203214244www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577281210489679138/, live, In December 2013, Nemtsov said on behalf of his party:We support Ukraine’s course toward European integration [...] By supporting Ukraine, we also support ourselves.NEWS, Brian Whitmore, The Bolotnaya Maydan,www.rferl.org/content/the-bolotnaya-maydan/25190663.html, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 5 December 2013, 8 December 2013, 5 December 2013,www.rferl.org/content/the-bolotnaya-maydan/25190663.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20131205180716www.rferl.org/content/the-bolotnaya-maydan/25190663.html,">web.archive.org/web/20131205180716www.rferl.org/content/the-bolotnaya-maydan/25190663.html, live, Nemtsov condemned the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine:My condolences to the families of the victims. The bastards, who did this, must be destroyed. The separatists the other day bragged they had the Buk missiles, with which they wanted to take down an An-26. If those are them, they must get no mercy.Boris Nemtsov: Downing of Boeing in Donetsk area is terrorist act of 9/11 scale {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719062850charter97.org/en/news/2014/7/18/107444/ |date=19 July 2014 }}”. Charter 97. 18 July 2014{{Better source needed|date=March 2015}}Nemtsov was among the few Russian statesmen to vocally oppose the annexation of Crimea by Russia. Nemtsov stated that he viewed Crimea as an integral part of Ukraine, that he considered its annexation by the Russian Federation to be illegal, and that the people of Crimea and not Russian legislators should decide which country they want to live in.NEWS,obozrevatel.com/abroad/57960-nemtsov-rasskazal-pri-kakom-uslovii-vozmozhno-vozvraschenie-kryima-ukraine.htm, Obozrevatel, ru:Немцов рассказал, при каком условии возможно возвращение Крыма Украине, Nemtsov told under what conditions Crimea may return to Ukraine, 21 November 2014, ru, 15 December 2014, 21 December 2014,obozrevatel.com/abroad/57960-nemtsov-rasskazal-pri-kakom-uslovii-vozmozhno-vozvraschenie-kryima-ukraine.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20141221022837obozrevatel.com/abroad/57960-nemtsov-rasskazal-pri-kakom-uslovii-vozmozhno-vozvraschenie-kryima-ukraine.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20141221022837obozrevatel.com/abroad/57960-nemtsov-rasskazal-pri-kakom-uslovii-vozmozhno-vozvraschenie-kryima-ukraine.htm, live, In an op-ed published on 1 September 2014 in the Kyiv Post, Nemtsov lamented the “fratricidal war” between Russia and Ukraine.This is not our war, this is not your war, this is not the war of 20-year-old paratroopers sent out there. This is Vladimir Putin’s war.He accused Putin of “trying to dissect Ukraine and create in the east of the country a puppet state, Novorossiya, that is fully economically and politically controlled by the Kremlin.” Meanwhile, wrote Nemtsov, “Russia itself is sinking into lies, violence, obscurantism and imperial hysteria.” He stated that he sometimes thinks Putin is insane, but at other times he recognizes that Putin is driven by one goal: the “preservation of personal power and money at any cost.” Ukraine had overthrown “a thieving president,” and Putin needed to punish it “to make sure that no Russian would get these thoughts.“Ukraine chose the European way, which implies the rule of law, democracy and change of power. Ukraine’s success on this way is a direct threat to Putin’s power because he chose the opposite course – a lifetime in power, filled with arbitrariness and corruption.“Boris Nemtsov: Why does Putin wage war with Ukraine? {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902053958www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/why-does-putin-wage-war-on-ukraine-362884.html |date=2 September 2014 }}”, Kyiv Post, 1 September 2014.{{in lang|uk}}He criticized Putin in 2014:I cannot understand what Putin expects when he arms 20,000 Kadyrovites. Putin diligently finances Chechnya by sending there trains loaded with money. The republic receives a minimum of 60 billion rubles a year in grants. Only Allah knows how much money is being siphoned off through different programs, such as Northern Caucasus Resorts.A Threat to National Security {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928153850www.putin-itogi.ru/cp/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/AThreatToNationalSecurity-IlyaYashin.pdf |date=28 September 2016 }}, putin-itogi.ru, February 2016; accessed 30 April 2018.In April 2014, in an interview with journalists Boris Nemtsov called Putin a mental patient. This statement was used as the basis for initiation of criminal proceeding against Nemtsov but, eventually, the case was requalified to administrative offence.NEWS, Kichanova, Vera, 6 October 2014, Немцов избежал уголовного преследования за мат в адрес Путина, ru, Republic.ru,republic.ru/posts/l/1167356,

Death

Nemtsov’s fears

Less than three weeks before his murder, on 10 February, Nemtsov wrote on Russia’s Sobesednik news website that his 87-year-old mother was afraid Putin would kill him. He added that his mother was also afraid for oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. When asked if he himself was afraid for his life, Nemtsov answered: “Yes, not as strongly as my mother, but still...“NEWS, Борис Немцов: Боюсь того, что Путин меня убьет,sobesednik.ru/politika/20150210-boris-nemcov-boyus-togo-chto-putin-menya-ubet, Sobesednik, 10 February 2015, 2 March 2015, 16 October 2019,web.archive.org/web/20191016184329/https://sobesednik.ru/politika/20150210-boris-nemcov-boyus-togo-chto-putin-menya-ubet, live, WEB, Putin Critic Boris Nemtsov Shot Dead,www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/russian-opposition-leader-nemtsov-shot-dead-moscow-150227220848302.html, 27 February 2015, 1 March 2015, Calamur, Krishnadevarchive-date=1 March 2015www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/russian-opposition-leader-nemtsov-shot-dead-moscow-150227220848302.html>url-status=live, In an extended version of the interview, Nemtsov reportedly added: “I am just joking. If I were afraid of Putin, I wouldn’t be in this line of work.“Полное интервью Немцова “Собеседнику”: Если бы я боялся Путина, то...>WORK=SOBESEDNIK.RUURL=HTTP://SOBESEDNIK.RU/POLITIKA/20150228-POLNOE-INTERVYU-NEMCOVA-SOBESEDNIKU-ESLI-BY-YA-BOYALSYA-PUTIARCHIVE-DATE=1 MARCH 2015URL-STATUS=LIVE, Two weeks prior to his assassination, Nemtsov had met “with an old friend”, Yevgenia Albats, editor of The New Times magazine, to discuss his research into Putin’s role in the Ukraine conflict. Albats said that Nemtsov “was afraid of being killed”, adding:And he was trying to convince himself, and me, they wouldn’t touch him because he was a [former] member of the Russian government, a vice premier, and they wouldn’t want to create a precedent. Because as he said, one time the power will change hands in Russia again, and those who served Putin wouldn’t want to create this precedent.NEWS, Kramer, Andrew, Fear Envelops Russia After Killing of Putin Critic Boris Nemtsov, The New York Times, 28 Feb 2015,www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/world/europe/killing-of-boris-nemtsov-putin-critic-breeds-fear-in-russia.html, 21 February 2017, 7 March 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170307084805/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/world/europe/killing-of-boris-nemtsov-putin-critic-breeds-fear-in-russia.html, live,

Assassination of Nemtsov (27 February 2015)

File:People came to the side of Boris Nemtsov’s murder (2015-02-28; 44).JPG|thumb|Location of the murder at the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky BridgeBolshoy Moskvoretsky BridgeJust before midnight, at 23:31 local time on 27 February 2015, Nemtsov was shot several times from behind.NEWS, Vasiliev, Nikita, 28 February 2015, Круглосуточная камера зафиксировала убийство Немцова, CCTV recorded murder of Nemtsov,www.tvc.ru/news/show/id/62541, ru, TV Centre (Russia), TV Centre, Moscow, 25 June 2018, 13 August 2020,www.tvc.ru/news/show/id/62541," title="web.archive.org/web/20200813061549www.tvc.ru/news/show/id/62541,">web.archive.org/web/20200813061549www.tvc.ru/news/show/id/62541, live, He was crossing the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow, close to the Kremlin walls and Red Square.{{efn|{{Coord|55.7495|37.62421}}}} He died at the scene. He was murdered less than two days before he was due to take part in a peace rally against Russian involvement in the war in Ukraine and the financial crisis in Russia.NEWS, Russia opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead, BBC News, 27 February 2015,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31669061, 28 February 2015, 17 October 2020,web.archive.org/web/20201017083251/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31669061, live, BBC News reported: “In his last tweet, Mr. Nemtsov sent out an appeal for Russia’s divided opposition to unite at an anti-war march he was planning for Sunday.” BBC News also quoted him as saying: “If you support stopping Russia’s war with Ukraine, if you support stopping Putin’s aggression, come to the Spring March in Maryino on {{nowrap|1 March}}.“The night after Nemtsov’s murder, his papers, writings and computer hard drives were confiscated in a police search of his apartment on Malaya Ordynka street.NEWS, ru:Ð’ квартире Немцова проводится обыск, ru, A search is going on in Nemtsov’s flat, RBK, Russia, 28 February 2015,www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/54f1228e9a7947d2f285e4ed, 28 February 2015, 2 March 2015,www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/54f1228e9a7947d2f285e4ed," title="web.archive.org/web/20150302163548www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/54f1228e9a7947d2f285e4ed,">web.archive.org/web/20150302163548www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/54f1228e9a7947d2f285e4ed, live,

Aftermath, context and accusations

Russian journalist Ksenia Sobchak said that Nemtsov had been preparing a report proving the presence of Russian military in eastern Ukraine despite official denials.WEB,www.rosbalt.ru/moscow/2015/02/28/1372887.html, ru:Собчак: Немцов собирался опубликовать доклад об участии российских военных в войне на Украине, RosBalt, ru, 28 February 2015, 28 February 2015, 14 December 2018,www.rosbalt.ru/moscow/2015/02/28/1372887.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20181214123726www.rosbalt.ru/moscow/2015/02/28/1372887.html,">web.archive.org/web/20181214123726www.rosbalt.ru/moscow/2015/02/28/1372887.html, live, Two weeks before his murder, Nemtsov had “met with an old friend to discuss his latest research into what he said was dissembling and misdeeds in the Kremlin.” Yevgenia Albats, editor of The New Times magazine, said that Nemtsov worked on a report which he planned to call “Putin and the War”, because it focused on Russia’s role in the Ukraine conflict. Albats commented on her fear for Nemtsov’s life.Some people had accused Russian security services of responsibility for the crime.Shaun Walker (8 March 2015) Boris Nemtsov murder: Chechen chief Kadyrov confirms link to prime suspect {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222150427www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/08/boris-nemtsov-five-suspects-appear-in-court-over-opposition-leaders-killing |date=22 February 2020 }} The Guardian Vladimir Milov, a former deputy minister of energy and fellow opposition figure, said: “There is ever less doubt that the state is behind the murder of Boris Nemtsov” and stated that the objective had been “to sow fear.” Opposition activist Maxim Katz held Putin responsible: “If he ordered it, then he’s guilty as the orderer. And even if he didn’t, then [he is responsible] as the inciter of hatred, hysteria, and anger among the people.“NEWS, Ioffe, Julia, After Boris Nemtsov’s Assassination, ‘There Are No Longer Any Limits’, The New York Times, 28 February 2015,www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/magazine/after-boris-nemtsovs-assassination-there-are-no-longer-any-limits.html?_r=0, 21 February 2017, 13 June 2018,web.archive.org/web/20180613010437/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/magazine/after-boris-nemtsovs-assassination-there-are-no-longer-any-limits.html?_r=0, live, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters: “Putin noted that this cruel murder has all the hallmarks of a contract hit and is extremely provocative”.WEB, Putin vows to punish killers of Kremlin critic, as opposition condemns ‘political murder’,www.thejournal.ie/boris-nemstov-shot-dead-1964990-Feb2015, February 2015, The Journal, 26 December 2015, 5 January 2016,www.thejournal.ie/boris-nemstov-shot-dead-1964990-Feb2015/," title="web.archive.org/web/20160105151746www.thejournal.ie/boris-nemstov-shot-dead-1964990-Feb2015/,">web.archive.org/web/20160105151746www.thejournal.ie/boris-nemstov-shot-dead-1964990-Feb2015/, live, WEB, Boris Nemtsov allies fear killers of Russian politician will escape justice,www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/28/boris-nemtstov-allies-fear-killers-will-never-be-caught, The Guardian, 28 February 2015, 26 December 2015, 2 January 2016,www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/28/boris-nemtstov-allies-fear-killers-will-never-be-caught," title="web.archive.org/web/20160102123231www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/28/boris-nemtstov-allies-fear-killers-will-never-be-caught,">web.archive.org/web/20160102123231www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/28/boris-nemtstov-allies-fear-killers-will-never-be-caught, live, Russian opposition leader and Nemtsov’s ally Ilya Yashin claimed that Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov was behind the assassination of Nemtsov, saying that “Chechnya today is a quasi-Islamic state within the Russian Federation that does not obey Russian rules, and whose only connection with the federal authorities is the systematic receipt of money from the federal budget. Russian society stays silent because people are afraid of Kadyrov. And he exploits this fear as an instrument to muffle critics.“NEWS, Chechen leader Kadyrov ‘threatens whole of Russia’, opposition says,www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/23/chechen-leader-ramzan-kadyrov-threatens-whole-of-russia-opposition-warns, The Guardian, 23 February 2016, 22 February 2020, 15 February 2020,web.archive.org/web/20200215222250/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/23/chechen-leader-ramzan-kadyrov-threatens-whole-of-russia-opposition-warns, live, Zhanna Nemtsova repeatedly said she wanted Kadyrov to be questioned about what he knew about the assassination of her father.NEWS, Allies of slain Putin critic Nemtsov allege cover-up after guilty verdict,www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-nemtsov/allies-of-slain-putin-critic-nemtsov-allege-cover-up-after-guilty-verdict-idUSKBN19K1UI, Reuters, 29 June 2017, 22 February 2020, 22 February 2020,web.archive.org/web/20200222150425/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-nemtsov/allies-of-slain-putin-critic-nemtsov-allege-cover-up-after-guilty-verdict-idUSKBN19K1UI, live, Shortly after Nemtsov’s murder, journalist Julia Ioffe stated several theories about the crime had begun to circulate. “Yet we can be sure that the investigation will lead precisely nowhere”, she wrote. “At most, some sad sap, the supposed trigger-puller, will be hauled in front of a judge, the scapegoat for someone far more powerful. More likely, the case will flounder for years amid promises that everyone is working hard, and no one will be brought to justice at all.” Ioffe said that the Kremlin was already “muddying the waters”.NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/magazine/after-boris-nemtsovs-assassination-there-are-no-longer-any-limits.html?_r=0, After Boris Nemtsov’s Assassination, ‘There Are No Longer Any Limits’, The New York Times, 28 February 2015, 1 November 2018, en, 13 June 2018,web.archive.org/web/20180613010437/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/magazine/after-boris-nemtsovs-assassination-there-are-no-longer-any-limits.html?_r=0, live, Ioffe, Julia, LifeNews, a publication tied to Russia’s security agencies, had suggested “three possible theories”, namely that the killing was “revenge for forcing Duritskaya to get an abortion”, or that it “had something to do with money Nemtsov was receiving from allies abroad”, or that it was “an attempt to smear the Kremlin.” A statement by the government’s Investigative Committee theorized that Nemtsov was “killed by someone from his own opposition movement who wanted to create a martyr” and even suggested “that the assassination was connected to the Charlie Hebdo killings.According to Bellingcat analysis Nemtsov was followed prior to the assassination by the same FSB team that would subsequently follow Vladimir Kara-Murza, Dmitry Bykov and Alexei Navalny before their suspected poisonings.NEWS, Boris Nemtsov Tailed by FSB Squad Prior to 2015 Murder,www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/03/28/boris-nemtsov-tailed-by-fsb-squad-prior-to-2015-murder/, 28 March 2022, Bellingcat, 28 March 2022,

Reactions and sanctions

Political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky opined that Russia had been affected by “a Weimar atmosphere” in which there were “no longer any limits.” Opposition activist Leonid Volkov maintained that Russians now lived “in a different political reality.“United States President Barack Obama called on Russia’s government to launch “a prompt, impartial, and transparent” investigation to ensure that “those responsible for this vicious killing are brought to justice”.NEWS, Reaction to death of Boris Nemtsov,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31670899, BBC News, 28 February 2015, 26 December 2015, 10 January 2016,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31670899," title="web.archive.org/web/20160110153100www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31670899,">web.archive.org/web/20160110153100www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31670899, live, German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the “cowardly murder”. A statement by her office demanded that Putin “assure himself that this assassination is elucidated and that its perpetrators are held accountable”.On 6 December 2017, the Council of the District of Columbia held a hearing to decide on symbolically renaming a section of Wisconsin Avenue as Boris Nemtsov Plaza. The Embassy of the Russian Federation fronts the section of street proposed for the designation.WEB,lims.dccouncil.us/Download/39108/B22-0539-HearingNotice1.pdf, Public Hearing Notice, lims.dccouncil.us, 4 December 2017, 5 December 2017,lims.dccouncil.us/Download/39108/B22-0539-HearingNotice1.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20171205042051lims.dccouncil.us/Download/39108/B22-0539-HearingNotice1.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20171205042051lims.dccouncil.us/Download/39108/B22-0539-HearingNotice1.pdf, live, On 9 January 2018, the Council unanimously approved the “Boris Nemtsov Plaza Designation Act of 2017” which authorized the renaming. The section of the street was renamed.WEB,lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B22-0539, B22-0539 – Boris Nemtsov Plaza Designation Act of 2017, lims.dccouncil.us, 11 January 2018,lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B22-0539," title="web.archive.org/web/20200323220213lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B22-0539,">web.archive.org/web/20200323220213lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B22-0539, 23 March 2020, dead, NEWS,www.cnn.com/2018/01/11/politics/dc-city-council-russian-embassy-boris-nemtsov/index.html, DC street in front of Russian embassy renamed to honor Putin critic, Maegan, Vazquez, CNN, 11 January 2018, 10 January 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210110222241/https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/11/politics/dc-city-council-russian-embassy-boris-nemtsov/index.html, live, File:Vorstellung des Nemzow-Berichts der Parlamentarischen Versammlung der OSZE im Bibliotheksaal.jpg|thumb|Presentation of the Nemtsov Report 2020 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in the (Hofburg]]WEB, The Nemtsov Murder and Rule of Law in Russia,www.oscepa.org/documents/officers-of-the-assembly/margareta-cederfelt-sweden/3971-the-nemtsov-murder-and-rule-of-law-in-russia-report-by-osce-pa-vice-president-margareta-cederfelt-20-february-2020/file, 2020-02-29, 11 November 2020,web.archive.org/web/20201111150224/https://www.oscepa.org/documents/officers-of-the-assembly/margareta-cederfelt-sweden/3971-the-nemtsov-murder-and-rule-of-law-in-russia-report-by-osce-pa-vice-president-margareta-cederfelt-20-february-2020/file, live, )On 12 March 2019, the United States House of Representatives passed bills intended to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for his country’s actions, including a measure condemning the Russian leader and his government for their alleged roles in covering up the 2015 assassination of Putin political opponent Boris Nemtsov.WEB,thehill.com/policy/international/433731-house-passes-series-of-measures-hitting-russia-putin, House passes series of measures hitting Russia, Putin, thehill.com, 12 March 2019, 12 March 2019, 22 March 2019,web.archive.org/web/20190322094101/https://thehill.com/policy/international/433731-house-passes-series-of-measures-hitting-russia-putin, live, After Nemtsov’s murder, Serge Schmemann of The New York Times paid tribute to him in an article headlined “A Reformer Who Never Backed Down.” Schmemann wrote: “Tall, handsome, witty and irreverent, Mr. Nemtsov was one of the brilliant young men who burst onto the Russian stage at that exciting moment when Communist rule collapsed and a new era seemed imminent.” Julia Ioffe of The New York Times described Nemtsov after his death as “a powerful, vigorous critic of Vladimir Putin”, who was “a deeply intelligent, witty, kind and ubiquitous man” who “seemed to genuinely be everyone’s friend”.On 11 July 2023, the European Court of Human Rights judged that the assassination investigation by the Russian authorities had been “inadequate and ineffective” and there had been a violation of the right to life.WEB, Judgment concerning the Russian Federation,www.echr.coe.int/w/judgment-concerning-the-russian-federation-7, 2023-07-12, ECHR, en-GB,

Convictions

Several suspects have been implicated in the assassination, all of whom are Chechens. The alleged shooter is a former officer in the security force of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who was also accused by opposition leader Ilya Yashin of having murdered Nemtsov.WEB,www.yahoo.com/news/report-blames-chechen-leader-over-killing-kremlin-critic-121619146.html, Report blames Chechen leader over killing of Kremlin critic, Yahoo! News, 23 February 2016, 2 August 2016, dead,web.archive.org/web/20160825205710/https://www.yahoo.com/news/report-blames-chechen-leader-over-killing-kremlin-critic-121619146.html, 25 August 2016, Five Chechen men were prosecuted for his murder.NEWS, Russia: Five men stand trial for Boris Nemtsov murder,www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/russia-men-stand-trial-boris-nemtsov-murder-161003084451436.html, 11 February 2017, www.aljazeera.com, 12 February 2017,www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/russia-men-stand-trial-boris-nemtsov-murder-161003084451436.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20170212092414www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/russia-men-stand-trial-boris-nemtsov-murder-161003084451436.html,">web.archive.org/web/20170212092414www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/russia-men-stand-trial-boris-nemtsov-murder-161003084451436.html, live, In late June 2017, these men were found guilty by a jury in a court in Moscow for agreeing to kill Nemtsov in exchange for 15 million rubles (US$253,000); neither the identity nor whereabouts of the person who hired them has been publicly revealed.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Memorial rallies

(File:March in memory of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow (2017-02-26) 78.jpg|thumb|March in memory of Nemtsov in Moscow, 26 February 2017)At a memorial rally held in Moscow on 1 March, the date on which Nemtsov had planned to lead an opposition march, mourners carried signs that read: “He was fighting for a free Russia,” “Those shots were in each of us,” “He died for the future of Russia,” and “They were afraid of you, Boris.” Several thousand people also marched in Saint Petersburg.WEB, Tanas, Olga & Jason Corcoran, Thousands March for Russia Opposition After Nemtsov Murdered, Bloomberg, 30 April 2018,www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-27/russian-opposition-member-boris-nemtsov-shot-dead-in-moscow, 27 February 2015, WEB, Boris Nemtsov murder: Tens of thousands march in Moscow, BBC, 27 February 2015, 30 April 2018,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31677506, 21 April 2018,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31677506," title="web.archive.org/web/20180421212610www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31677506,">web.archive.org/web/20180421212610www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31677506, live, Serge Schmemann of The New York Times wrote that the Moscow rally seemed like “a memorial march for the hopes and dreams that lay alongside Mr. Nemtsov’s murdered body in the middle of the night on the bridge to Red Square.“In August 2015, Nemtsov’s daughter Zhanna Nemtsova was the recipient of Poland’s Solidarity Prize for her father’s work.WEB,www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/04/poland-awards-daughter-slain-russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov/, Poland awards daughter of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, Fox News, 4 August 2015, 6 August 2015,www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/04/poland-awards-daughter-slain-russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov/," title="web.archive.org/web/20150924191424www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/04/poland-awards-daughter-slain-russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov/,">web.archive.org/web/20150924191424www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/04/poland-awards-daughter-slain-russian-opposition-leader-boris-nemtsov/, 24 September 2015, dead, dmy-all, On 9 October 2015, opposition activists in Moscow erected a monument dedicated to Nemtsov at his tomb at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery, plot 16. The monument, unveiled on what would have been his 56th birthday, shows Nemtsov’s name with five bullet holes puncturing it.NEWS, Russian Activists Dedicate Monument To Slain Boris Nemtsov,www.rferl.org/content/nemtsov-russia-monument/27297011.html, RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, 10 September 2015, 3 November 2015, 3 November 2015,www.rferl.org/content/nemtsov-russia-monument/27297011.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20151103123719www.rferl.org/content/nemtsov-russia-monument/27297011.html,">web.archive.org/web/20151103123719www.rferl.org/content/nemtsov-russia-monument/27297011.html, live, (File:Boris Nemtsov’s March (2).jpg|thumb|270px|Tens of thousands march in Moscow in memory of Nemtsov, 1 March 2015)In late February 2017, a peaceful protest and commemorative plaque dedication are planned in Nizhny Novgorod, in commemoration of his ideology and the freedom of speech that led to his assassination.NEWS, ru:Власти Нижнего Новгорода согласовали марш памяти Бориса Немцова,www.svoboda.org/a/28301954.html, 11 February 2017, Радио Свобода, 10 February 2017, ru, 12 February 2017,www.svoboda.org/a/28301954.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20170212091537www.svoboda.org/a/28301954.html,">web.archive.org/web/20170212091537www.svoboda.org/a/28301954.html, live,

Honors and awards

• Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, Second class, (10 March 1995) – for service to the state associated with the completion of the first phase of the voucher privatization scheme.Указ Президента РФ от 10 марта 1995 г. N 260

“О награждении медалью ордена “За заслуги перед Отечеством” II степени”

• Medal “For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms” (Ministry of Defense) (2001).WEB,www.kommersant.ru/doc/169440, ru:Депутаты Госдумы получили к празднику медали и погоны, 23 February 2001, ru, 28 February 2015, 2 April 2015,www.kommersant.ru/doc/169440," title="web.archive.org/web/20150402135835www.kommersant.ru/doc/169440,">web.archive.org/web/20150402135835www.kommersant.ru/doc/169440, live,
• Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow (ROC) (1996) – for his contribution to nation-building.WEB,severleg.cwx.ru/?tag=boris-nemcov, Boris Nemtsov, 5 April 2009, severleg.cwx.ru, 28 February 2015, 10 January 2021,severleg.cwx.ru/?tag=boris-nemcov," title="web.archive.org/web/20210110222237severleg.cwx.ru/?tag=boris-nemcov,">web.archive.org/web/20210110222237severleg.cwx.ru/?tag=boris-nemcov, live, WEB,www.aif.ru/dontknows/file/1457284, Чем запомнился Борис Немцов?, aif.ru, 28 February 2015, 28 February 2015, 1 March 2015,www.aif.ru/dontknows/file/1457284," title="web.archive.org/web/20150301113704www.aif.ru/dontknows/file/1457284,">web.archive.org/web/20150301113704www.aif.ru/dontknows/file/1457284, live,
• Honorary sign of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region “Merit” (26 March 2009).WEB,www.niann.ru/?id=347822, Валерий Шанцев, Евгений Люлин, Борис Немцов, Евгений Крестьянинов, Владимир Иванов и Дмитрий Бедняков будут награждены почетным знаком Заксобрания Нижегородской области “За заслуги”, niann.ru, 26 March 2009, 28 February 2015, 18 March 2015,niann.ru/?id=347822," title="web.archive.org/web/20150318142444niann.ru/?id=347822,">web.archive.org/web/20150318142444niann.ru/?id=347822, live,
• Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Fifth class, (Ukraine) (19 August 2006) – for a significant contribution to the development of international cooperation, strengthening the authority and positive image of Ukraine in the world, popularization of its historical and modern achievements.WEB,www.president.gov.ua/ru/documents/4873.html, Указ Президента Украины No 698/2006, president.gov.ua, 28 February 2015, dead,www.president.gov.ua/ru/documents/4873.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20140808044054www.president.gov.ua/ru/documents/4873.html,">web.archive.org/web/20140808044054www.president.gov.ua/ru/documents/4873.html, 8 August 2014, dmy-all,
• Order of Liberty (Ukraine, posthumously).NEWS, Петр Порошенко посмертно наградил Бориса Немцова орденом Свободы,www.kommersant.ru/doc/2678842, Kommersant, 3 March 2015, 3 March 2015, 6 March 2015,www.kommersant.ru/doc/2678842," title="web.archive.org/web/20150306172814www.kommersant.ru/doc/2678842,">web.archive.org/web/20150306172814www.kommersant.ru/doc/2678842, live,
• Jan Karski Eagle Prize (Poland, 15 May 2015, posthumously).WEB,www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-ze-swiata,2/nagroda-orla-jana-karskiego-dla-borysa-niemcowa,542678.html, Å»anna Niemcowa: mój ojciec oddaÅ‚ życie za wolnÄ… RosjÄ™, TVN24, pl, 15 May 2015, 15 May 2015, 18 May 2015,www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-ze-swiata,2/nagroda-orla-jana-karskiego-dla-borysa-niemcowa,542678.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20150518082242www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-ze-swiata,2/nagroda-orla-jana-karskiego-dla-borysa-niemcowa,542678.html,">web.archive.org/web/20150518082242www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-ze-swiata,2/nagroda-orla-jana-karskiego-dla-borysa-niemcowa,542678.html, live,
• IRI Freedom Award (United States, September 2015, posthumously).WEB, Freedom Award Honorees,www.iri.org/freedom-award-honorees, 10 September 2015, 7 September 2015,www.iri.org/freedom-award-honorees," title="web.archive.org/web/20150907025050www.iri.org/freedom-award-honorees,">web.archive.org/web/20150907025050www.iri.org/freedom-award-honorees, live, NEWS, Борису Немцову посмертно присуждена “Премия свободы” в США,www.bbc.com/russian/rolling_news/2015/09/150910_rn_nemtsov_liberty_award, BBC, 10 September 2015, 10 September 2015, 11 September 2015,www.bbc.com/russian/rolling_news/2015/09/150910_rn_nemtsov_liberty_award," title="web.archive.org/web/20150911042611www.bbc.com/russian/rolling_news/2015/09/150910_rn_nemtsov_liberty_award,">web.archive.org/web/20150911042611www.bbc.com/russian/rolling_news/2015/09/150910_rn_nemtsov_liberty_award, live, WEB, IRI to Honor Speaker Boehner, Mo Ibrahim & Boris Nemtsov with 2015 Freedom Award, 27 July 2015,www.iri.org/resource/iri-honor-speaker-boehner-mo-ibrahim-boris-nemtsov-2015-freedom-award, International Republican Institute, 10 September 2015, 8 September 2015,www.iri.org/resource/iri-honor-speaker-boehner-mo-ibrahim-boris-nemtsov-2015-freedom-award," title="web.archive.org/web/20150908014031www.iri.org/resource/iri-honor-speaker-boehner-mo-ibrahim-boris-nemtsov-2015-freedom-award,">web.archive.org/web/20150908014031www.iri.org/resource/iri-honor-speaker-boehner-mo-ibrahim-boris-nemtsov-2015-freedom-award, live,

Political publications

Memoirs:

• “Provincial” – 1997
• “Provincial in Moscow” – 1999
• Confessions of a rebel – 2007

Beginning in 2008, Nemtsov and Vladimir Milov published several white papers criticising Putin’s government and proposing alternative ways of development for the country:

• Putin. Results – February 2008{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
• Putin and Gazprom – September 2008{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
• Putin and the Crisis – February 2009{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
• Sochi and the Olympics – April 2009{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
• Putin. Results. 10 years – June 2010,WEB,www.putin-itogi.ru/doklad/, Putin. Results. 10 years. 2010, putin-itogi.ru, 28 February 2015, 17 October 2012,www.putin-itogi.ru/doklad/," title="web.archive.org/web/20121017052632www.putin-itogi.ru/doklad/,">web.archive.org/web/20121017052632www.putin-itogi.ru/doklad/, live, Putin: What 10 Years of Putin Have Brought, revised edition of the report Putin. Results of 2008.Putin: What 10 Years of Putin Have Brought {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228014558www.putin-itogi.ru/putin-what-10-years-of-putin-have-brought/ |date=28 February 2015 }} 2010. Translated into English. 0Создание сайта: Павел Елизаров.
• Putin. Corruption – March 2011. Written by co-chairmen of the People’s Freedom Party Nemtsov, Milov, Ryzhkov and Solidarity movement spokesman Olga Shorina. The printing of the report was funded with donations. Entitled “Putin the Thief”, this report stated that Putin’s decade in power had seen “an extraordinary increase in the abuse of power and corruption.” The report described Putin’s corruption in detail and said that it far exceeded “the scale of corruption under Yeltsin.” The report stated that corruption in Russia “has ceased being a problem in Russia; it has become a system” that “represents 25% of the country’s GNP.“WEB, The Nemtsov White Paper, Part V – Putin the Thief, La Russophobe,larussophobe.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/special-extra-the-nemtsov-white-paper-part-v-putin-the-thief, 3 April 2011, 5 March 2015, 26 August 2018,web.archive.org/web/20180826121624/https://larussophobe.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/special-extra-the-nemtsov-white-paper-part-v-putin-the-thief/, live,
• In a May 2013 report, Nemtsov stated that up to $30 billion had been stolen from funds allocated for the Sochi Olympics. He accused the Putin administration of cronyism and embezzlement of funds on a level so grand it posed as a threat to Russian national security. He suggested “establishing a civic committee in charge of the investigation of the crimes committed around the Olympic project.”
• At the time of his murder, Nemtsov was preparing for publication his next report proving the presence of Russian military in eastern Ukraine (BBC News International, 28 February 2015; a Russian source is quoting journalist Ksenia Sobchak on the matter). In May 2015, the report has been published under the title “Putin. War”.WEB,openrussia.org/post/view/4803, Путин. Война – Открытая Россия, Openrussia.org, 30 April 2018, 12 June 2018,web.archive.org/web/20180612172052/https://openrussia.org/post/view/4803/, live, “Nemtsov Report Details Human and Financial Costs of War in Ukraine” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514005131www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/nemtsov-report-details-human-and-financial-costs-of-war-in-ukraine/520571.html |date=14 May 2015 }}, Moscow Times, 12 May 2015. The publication reported that more than 200 Russian soldiers were then operating in Ukraine.NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/europe/kremlin-critics-posthumous-report-links-russian-soldiers-to-ukraine.html, Kremlin Critic’s Posthumous Report Links Russian Soldiers to Ukraine, The New York Times, 12 May 2015, Kramer, Andrew E., 26 February 2017, 22 February 2018,web.archive.org/web/20180222141542/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/europe/kremlin-critics-posthumous-report-links-russian-soldiers-to-ukraine.html, live,
• Nemtsov, Boris. 2000. “Reform for Russia: Forging a New Domestic Policy”, Harvard International Review 22 (No. 2): 16–21.

Documentary films

• 2015 – My Friend Boris Nemtsov (, Moj drug Boris Nemtsov), documentary film by Zosia Rodkevich on the man and political activist Nemtsov.
• 2016 – Nemtsov (, Nemtsov), documentary film by Vladimir V. Kara-Murza.
• 2016 – The Man Who Was Too Free (, Slishkom svobodnyy chelovek), documentary film by Mikhail Fishman and Vera Krichevskaya.

See also

• Boris Nemtsov Square, Prague

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{notelist}}{{reflist}}

Further reading

• Dunlop, John B. The February 2015 Assassination of Boris Nemtsov and the Flawed Trial of his Alleged Killers. An Exploration of Russia’s ‘Crime of the 21st Century’ (Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag, 2019), 197pp.

External links

{{Commons category|Boris Nemtsov}}

• {{Official websitewww.nemtsov.ru/}} {{in lang|ru}}
• www.rusolidarnost.ru/leaders/boris-nemtsov" title="web.archive.org/web/20090410090507www.rusolidarnost.ru/leaders/boris-nemtsov">Nemtsov {{in lang|ru}} at Solidarity
• b-nemtsov.livejournal.com/" title="arquivo.pt/wayback/20091226035323b-nemtsov.livejournal.com/">Nemtsov {{in lang|ru}} at LiveJournal
• Reports on Putin {{in lang|ru}}
• Interview with Boris Nemtsov on BBC’s HARDtalk (Air date 7 February 2011)
• Seven portraits made by Lena Hades five days after the murder of Boris Nemtsov and the start of the art marathon across Russia in memory of Boris Nemtsov

{{Authority control}}