Midnight in Moscow: Nemtsov assassinated
It’s still dangerous to be in the opposition in Russia:
Boris Nemtsov, a towering figure in Russian post-Soviet politics and a biting critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down steps from the Kremlin late Friday, authorities said. The drive-by shooting had the potential to open a violent new chapter in Russian political life.
Nemtsov, a physicist-turned-politician who was seen in the 1990s as a possible heir to President Boris Yeltsin, was one of the loudest voices condemning Russia’s sharp turn toward confrontation with the West in the past year. The killing sent immediate shock waves through Russia, where he became the highest-profile opposition leader to be slain in a nation where such figures are sometimes imprisoned or pushed to emigrate.
There was no immediate information on who killed the 55-year-old politician as he walked across a central Moscow bridge shortly before midnight on an unusually warm winter’s night. Putin said it bore the marks of a contract killing intended to embarrass the Kremlin, a spokesman said. Opposition leaders said they were sure that it was an attempt to intimidate them.
President Cristina Ferné¡ndez de Kirchner of Argentina and former prosecutor Alberto Nisman had no comment.
More:
The killing took place as Nemtsov walked in the heart of Moscow across the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge, less than 100 yards from the walls of the Kremlin and within sight of Red Square, one of the most secure areas in all of Russia. Police and secret services have a heavy presence in the region…
Nemtsov had been working on a report that he said would prove that Russian soldiers were fighting alongside pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, where a bloody 11-month-conflict has claimed nearly 5,800 lives. The Kremlin has hotly denied any direct involvement, which Russian opinion polls suggest would be deeply unpopular.
[NOTE: This is the reference in the title of this post:
That was 1961. Longer ago than I had thought.]
Putin has gone completely over to the dark side. Even at its best, the post Soviet society has not been very civilized/liberal. This is pretty stark evidence of it moving back toward the bad old days of the USSR.
Agony of Putin’s regim began. It happened earlier than I expected.
Wanna bet they either never find the shooter, or they hang the blame on some patsy, some unfortunate scapegoat who will probably get killed in the course of their attempted arrest?
The Ethernet has nabbed my previous comment and… is holding it for ransom?
There is no cause for Putin to assassinate Nemtsov. This story reminds me of the narrative spun to blame Russians following the European and American-endorsed coup in Ukraine.
Off-topic; but Midnight in Moscow is the best all time instrumental and it is wonderful that it is a Russian song (Moscow Nights) done by a British band (Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen) in an American style (Jazz). There isn’t much better.
On-topic: Notice to Joe Biden – the cold war called, their old habits are back.
To n.n.: Every opposition leader of the caliber of Nemtsov was closely followed by secret services. There is not a chance that plot against him was not detected. The murder occured in just 100 yards from Kremlin, the most covered by survillance place in Moscow. If some non-governmental fringe group of vigilantes murdered him, it was possible only if they were ALLOWED to do so. Which does not really differ from direct Kremlin involvement in the murder.
Geeeeezzzz, Vlad..!! Nice Stalin touch, Bud.
‘Tis a palpable HIT…
‘Tis a grave matter…
Come the morrow!
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Not one living soul on this planet believes that this this was anything other than a Putin stroke.
As for the babe, I would not doubt that she was a party to the transaction. The FSB/ SVR has many ‘women in red’ or orange as the case may be.
‘Tis to laugh: the bizarre notion that this hit was related to a romantic funk.
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It’s High Noon.
Where’s that “Over Charge” button, anyway.
Left to ponder:”What matter does it make!”
It’s time to Move-On — just ask Soros.
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For those wondering, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — a salami-slice torpid advance — is a DIRECT result of SNOWDEN.
Don’t you doubt it.
Put another way, Putin has been made paranoid by way of the decrypted transmissions spewed forth by the savant-idiots at State.
At the same time that he’s been made brazen and arrogant by the knowledge that he now has the upper hand over NSA-GCHQ.
[ For you quibbilists: GCHQ is actually tasked with spying on Americans — and then shunting the results to Washington.
NSA is tasked with the rest of the planet — especially to include Britain — and then shunting the results off to London.
This is why — and how — both outfits brazenly tell their masters that they’re NOT spying on their own countrymen!
One only recall that when Thatcher was spying on her political opponents in Britain — she shunted ALL of the touchy ‘requests for intelligence’ through Ottawa!
Then, when pressed, her cabinet simply dissembled: telling how the information just fell onto their desks — courtesy of a friendly foreign government.
Cute, no?