Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in "bizarre gardening accident*".

[Mr Angry]

.....*shot dead in Moscow.

"Prominent Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has been shot dead in Moscow, according to reports.

Nemtsov, a former Kremlin insider and a sharp critic of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was reportedly shot four times in the chest by a killer who escaped in a white car. The killing took place late on Friday evening in the centre of Moscow, near St Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin.

Nemtsov, 55, was deputy prime minister during the 1990s in the government of Boris Yeltsin. He had written a number of reports in recent years linking Putin and his inner circle to corruption.

News agency Interfax confirmed Nemtsov’s death, while fellow opposition politician Ilya Yashin and the editor-in-chief of liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy also confirmed the news."


Putin getting the boot in?

[Uncle Peter]

Well if Putin and the FSB are behind this it'll probably be his final mistake.

[papa smurf]

sounds like vlads KGB got to him - the soviet union is alive and kicking,its nice to see vlad taking personal control of the cover up

I doubt Putin is directly behind this. I can't see the upside for him as this guy wasn't a major political threat and the conspiracies that will now emerge are probably a lot more harmful to his image. Instead it's likely, according to reports this morning anyway, that the increased nationalism stoked up by the Kremlin and their invasion of Ukraine might be responsible.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

Well if Putin and the FSB are behind this it'll probably be his final mistake.

If only. Putin's increasingly becoming a loose cannon.

Upside? Downside? What Putin views as an 'upside' probably isn't what we'd consider rational or in the best interest of ordinary Russians. So this guy wasn't a major threat to Putin but then neither was Litvinenko and that didn't stop Russian agents using polonium 210 to murder him in London. It's laughable to think Putin knew nothing about that even if he didn't give a direct order. Murders like this send a very clear message to anyone who'd dare to oppose Putin and they've been happening for years.

Violent deaths of Putin opponents

April 2003 - Liberal politician Sergey Yushenkov assassinated near his Moscow home

July 2003 - Investigative journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin died after 16-day mysterious illness

July 2004 - Forbes magazine Russian editor Paul Klebnikov shot from moving car on Moscow street, died later in hospital

October 2006 - Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya shot dead outside her Moscow apartment

November 2006 - Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died nearly three weeks after drinking tea laced with polonium in London hotel

March 2013 - Boris Berezovsky, former Kremlin power broker turned Putin critic, found dead in his UK home

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31669061

Then we have:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Magnitsky

Who was detained, tortured and eventually died in custody.

What was the upside in that I wonder?

What we have in Russia is a rogue state led by people who're now playing a very dangerous game.

[Ignitionnet]

Apparently it's the CIA's fault in a move designed to destabilise Russia.

I appreciate that Putin has been forced into some of his more dubious reactions by things like having an anti-missile system shoved on his doorstep 'to protect NATO from Iran' and the EU-promoted coup in Ukraine but the manner in which Russia's internals matters are run and the level of propaganda thrown at the people is really dire. It's worse than during the communist era according to most reports I've read.

That doesn't affect us directly. That his foreign policy has to be reflective of it does. We are in really bloody dangerous times right now as far as Russia goes when we should really be kissing and making up and focusing on the enemy to all of us.

[Derek]

President Putin has assumed "personal control" of the investigation into the killing, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Those shredders don't operate themselves.

[Osem]

Is there a comparable list of Putin supporters who've died in suspicious circumstances or been murdered I wonder?

Of course, after a thorough and totally unbiased 'investigation' it'll turn out to be yet another western sponsored plot, just like the one which forced Putin to invade Crimea.

[Osem]

And now people wanting to pay their respects are being banned from doing so. That's clearly got nothing to do with Putin either.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31704254