Several thousand people commemorated the anniversary of the 2015 murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow on Saturday, following a clampdown on protests over the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny . Nemtsov briefly served as deputy prime minister in the late 1990s before joining the opposition, and Russian news agencies said the ambassadors of several Western countries were among those who attended Saturday's commemoration. But the opposition urged Muscovites to come to pay their respects to Nemtsov, while observing social distancing and wearing face masks. "This is a memorial event, not a rally or a march," said a statement signed by several opposition politicians and posted on social media. After his murder, opposition activists began guarding a makeshift memorial on the bridge when municipal authorities turned down a request to put up a plaque there in his honour.

Source: Mint February 27, 2021 15:22 UTC