clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
Help keep Vox free We're 66% of the way to reaching our goal for our September campaign to support our clear and accessible policy coverage. Will you help us get there by making a gift today?
YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty

Filed under:

“The bullets are in each of us”

Stunning photos from Russia's marches for Boris Nemtsov

By Max Fisher

When Russian opposition leader and former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov was shot to death on Friday in Moscow, the country lost many things. It lost a charismatic and forceful political organizer. It lost a prominent critic of Putin and of his war in Ukraine. It lost a sense that, even if journalists and activists are unsafe in Russia, at least high-profile political leaders did not have to fear for their lives. In a smaller and more immediate way, Russia also lost a leader for a protest rally that Nemtsov had been helping to plan for Sunday in Moscow. Two days after his murder, the rally went ahead, but primarily as a memorial for the man who was to lead it. A smaller rally was also held in Saint Petersburg; mourners gathered in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev as well.

Russian opposition supporters carry photos of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow | SERGEI GAPON/AFP/Getty
Opposition activist and former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov participates in the rally mourning Nemtsov. | ALEXANDER UTKIN/AFP/Getty
The Cathedral of St Basil, on Red Square, is visible behind the marchers in Moscow | SERGEI GAPON/AFP/Getty
Placards of Nemtsov | YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty
A woman holds flowers at the site where Nemtsov was shot to death, in view of the Cathedral of St Basil. | Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty
DMITRY SEREBRYAKOV/AFP/Getty
Ralliers carry a banner reading "Heroes never die — these bullets are in each of us" | SERGEI GAPON/AFP/Getty
Police stand guard in Moscow | YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty
Flowers laid by supporters rest at the spot where Nemtsov was shot to death. | Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty

St. Petersburg

Thousands also marched in Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. Police have estimated that 6,000 people attended.

Ralliers carry a banner reading, "Boris Nemtsov, don't forget, don't forgive" | OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty
Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Riot police stand guard as ralliers march past. | Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
A woman holds a portrait of Nemtsov amid Sunday's rally. | Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Ralliers carry the flags of Russia, Ukraine (blue and yellow), Saint Petersburg (red), and the political party Yabloko. | Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Ralliers hold signs reading "The sleep of reason produces monsters" and "Freedom to Savchenko - You can not afford two heroes." Nadiya Savchenko is a Ukrainian pilot who was captured by pro-Russia rebels and is currently on hunger strike in a Russian prison. | Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty

Kiev

Small crowds of supporters have also gathered in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Nemtsov was critical of Russia's annexation of Crimea and its military involvement in eastern Ukraine. His position was deeply unpopular in Russia, but appreciated in Ukraine, where he was viewed as a politician sympathetic to Ukraine and a contrast with Putin's policies of exerting control over Kiev. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called him "a bridge between Ukraine and Russia."

Mourners cross themselves at a ceremony for Boris Nemtsov in Kiev's Independence Squara. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stands at center. | SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty
Supporters lay flowers for Nemtsov at the Russian embassy in Kiev on Saturday | Vladimir Shtanko/Anadolu Agency/Getty
A man in a Putin mask and a Nazi SS uniform carries a sign reading "Bloody Putin" | SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty

Will you join us?

Our biggest supporters are our readers — and we’re so grateful to everyone who has made a contribution during our September campaign. We’re less than 1,000 contributions away from reaching our goal for the month, which in turn will allow us to say yes more often when our incredible journalists come to us with questions they want to answer and projects they want to pursue. Will you make a contribution before the month ends and support our policy coverage through 2024 and beyond?

Yes, I'll give $5/month
Future Perfect

40 years ago today, one man saved us from world-ending nuclear war

World Politics

How Armenia and Azerbaijan’s conflict could still destabilize the region

World Politics

What India’s parliamentary gender quota can — and can’t — do for women

View all stories in World Politics

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for Vox Recommends

Get curated picks of the best Vox journalism to read, watch, and listen to every week, from our editors.