Russia detains four suspects in Boris Nemstov murder inquiry

Russian authorities have detained four suspects men in connection with the murder of Boris Nemstov, the Russian opposition leader who was shot dead in the shadow of the Kremlin’s towers in February, according to the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian republic of Ingushetia’s Security Council.

The authorities originally detained two men, named as Anzor Gubashev and Zaur Dadayev, both from the North Caucasus, a volatile region of southern Russia plagued by insurgency. One of the men was a former police officer, according to Russian news agencies on Sunday

Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s federal security service, said the investigation was ongoing and Vladimir Putin had been informed of the detentions, the government television network Rossiya-24 reported.

The Investigative Committee confirmed that the two detainees are implicated in both organizing and executing the hit on Nemtsov. “We are continuing our work to establish which individuals may be involved in this crime,” the committee’s spokesman Vladimir Markin said.

Later on Saturday, the secretary of the Security Council of Russia's Republic of Ingushetia told Sputnik that two more people have been apprehended by the authorities in connection with the investigation.

They were identified as Gubashev’s younger brother and a man who was in the same car with Dadayev at the time of the arrest, Albert Barakhoyev told the news agency.

Nemtsov, 55, was shot four times in the back by a gunman in a passing car while walking close to the Kremlin on the evening of 27 February. Many of those close to Nemstov believe the 55-year-old former deputy prime minister was killed either for his opposition to Vladimir Putin, or by nationalist forces reacting to a long propaganda campaign on state-controlled television calling the political opposition traitors.

Others have suggested that the murder, which occurred in an area of high security near the Kremlin, would not have been possible without official involvement, and may have been an attempt to intimidate other government opponents.

It is not clear whether either of the detained men is suspected of firing the shots that killed Nemtsov. The prime witness to the killing returned to Kiev this week. She told the media she was unable to identify who shot Nemtsov.

Last week, a statement from the Investigative Committee, which has Vladimir Putin as its executive, said Nemstov may have been a “sacrificial victim for those who do not shun any method for achieving their political goals.” The Committee also said that it was looking into a number of possible motives, including Mr Nemtsov's opposition to the Ukraine war, his political and personal life, Islamic extremism or an attempt to destabilise the state.

His murder came just a day before a planned anti-government Spring March protest that Nemstov helped to organise. Instead, thousands of people marched to mourn the death of the Russian politician.