Nemtsov, a Russian opposition politician and an ally of anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, was gunned down last February during a walk at night near the Kremlin, two days before he was due to take part in a protest rally against the war in Ukraine.
A former deputy prime minister under Boris Yeltsin, Nemtsov was a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian authorities arrested five Chechen suspects and charged them with committing a contract killing. The committee alleged the suspects—Zaur Dadayev, Anzor Gubashev, Shadid Gubashev, Temerlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhayev—murdered Nemtsov as part of an organized crime group, according to the statement published on the committee’s website
Beslan Shavanov, the sixth suspect mentioned by the committee, blew himself up while detained in Chechnya last year.
A spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee said that the alleged mastermind of the killing, Ruslan Mukhudinov, remains at large, according to RFE/RL. Mukhudinov is a 27-year-old former Chechen police officer with an international warrant for his arrest, reported The Moscow Times.
Nemtsov’s daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, rejected the committee’s conclusions alleging they were “not interested in fully solving the case.”
Nemtsov's lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, also questioned the committee’s conclusion and alleged the killing was ordered by high-ranking Russian officials.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in the murder.
