Russian opposition leader and Putin critic Boris Nemtsov shot dead in Moscow

1. Boris Nemtsov, a prominent opposition politician and critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in Moscow today, according to a number of press reports. Ilya Yashin, another opposition politician, confirmed his death in a tweet, saying "Nemtsov shot. He's dead."
2. Nemtsov was reportedly shot multiple times while walking on Moscow's Zamoskvoretskiy bridge.
3. Nemtsov was scheduled to lead a large opposition march in Moscow this Sunday.

Boris Nemtsov has been highly critical of Putin

The 55-year-old Nemtsov has served in a number of Russian government positions, including as deputy prime minister in the 1990s under then-President Boris Yeltsin. More recently, he is known as an opposition party leader and a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Nemtsov has particularly criticized Russia's occupation in Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine. He wrote in a September 2014 column, "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 called conflict "some sort of a nightmare, a madness that only brings grief, conflicts and problems to all."

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