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Russian opposition leader Nemtsov buried at Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye cemetery

Thousands of mourners and dignitaries queued to pay last respects to one of the most prominent opposition figures

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, shot dead in Moscow overnight to Saturday, was buried at Moscow’s Troyekurovskoye cemetery on Tuesday.

Thousands of mourners and dignitaries queued to pay last respects to one of the most prominent opposition figures. Among them were family members, co-chairman of the RPR-Parnas party Mikhail Kasyanov, chairman of the Democratic Choice party Vladimir Milov, activists from the Russian opposition movement Solidarity and many other people who did not know Nemtsov personally but respected his views.

Several dozen wreaths, some with ribbons in the colours of the Russian flag, were laid at Nemtsov’s grave.

The service at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery followed a public ceremony at the Andrey Sakharov rights center, which brought together federal and regional government officials, parliamentarians, social activists, human rights advocates, the politician’s associates from the Union of Right Forces party and the RPR-Parnas party, and diplomatic officials.

Nemtsov, 55, was killed while walking along the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge. Preliminary data suggested he was gunned down from a car passing by the bridge. Four bullets hit him in the back and he died on the spot.

He was a co-chair of the RPR-Parnas liberal democratic political party and a deputy of a regional legislature, the Yaroslavl City Duma. Nemtsov held a number of Russian government positions in the 1990s.

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case into the "killing" and "illicit arms trafficking". Several theories of the murder are being considered. Investigators do not rule out that this was a contract killing.

Russia’s authorities have pledged that those behind the murder will be brought to justice.