Flowers were brought to Boris Nemtsov

Actions in memory of Boris Nemtsov, who was killed on February 27, 2015, were held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Perm, Novosibirsk and other Russian cities. In the eight years since the death of the opposition politician, memorial actions have become traditional. This time, almost everywhere, the regional authorities refused to allow rallies and processions, but allowed to honor the memory of the deceased by laying flowers. In Yekaterinburg, for the first time, they decided to show in full a video interview with Boris Nemtsov, recorded for the Boris Yeltsin Museum. All tickets for the event were purchased within 24 hours.

Former Deputy Prime Minister, ex-Deputy Chairman of the State Duma and the first Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Boris Nemtsov was killed on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge on the night of February 27-28, 2015. On March 1 of the same year, the first march in his memory took place, which gathered 51.6 thousand people. In 2016, 24 thousand people took part in the action, in 2017 – 15.2 thousand, in 2018 – 7.6 thousand, in 2019 – 10.8 thousand people, in 2020 – 22 .3 thousand people. Such data was provided by the volunteers of the White Counter organization. In 2021, the march was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was still allowed to lay flowers at the site of the death of Mr. Nemtsov. In 2022, the procession also did not happen. The police let everyone on the bridge, but it was forbidden to chant slogans.

“This time we didn’t even try to coordinate any actions in Moscow, since the mayor’s decree on anti-covid restrictions on mass events continues to apply here,” Kirill Goncharov, deputy head of the capital branch of the Yabloko party, admitted to Kommersant on Monday. The decree covers all public events, except, perhaps, those organized by the communists or United Russia.

In 2023, only a few dozen of his supporters gathered at the place of the politician’s death at a time.

However, people came here with flowers throughout the day. The police did not interfere, but the girl, who decided to fix a poster with the famous phrase “Fight!” among the roses and carnations, was immediately taken to the police station.

Some of those who came to the bridge on Monday afternoon associated the small number of events with the absence in Russia or at large of the main organizers of the annual action in memory of Boris Nemtsov. The key was the politician Ilya Yashin, recognized as a foreign agent and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Mr. Yashin’s Telegram channel, however, was not silent on the memorable date. “I still remember the stupor in which I stood on the bridge next to the body of Bori. His open glazed eyes. And the gloomy Kremlin is in the background,” the politician wrote, noting that it was in 2015 that he “promised himself not to leave Russia anywhere and not to be afraid of anything.”

A rally in memory of Boris Nemtsov agreed by the city authorities, organized by the regional branch of Yabloko, was held on Sunday in Barnaul.

Several dozen people laid flowers at the Farewell monument to the victims of political repressions on Svoboda Square. The police were obviously preparing for a larger event: Freedom Square was fenced off, metal detectors were put up at the entrance.

Representatives of the Perm regional branch of the Party of People’s Freedom (PARNAS) and members of the local Organization of Civil Activists (OGRA) tried twice to coordinate the rally. The mayor’s office refused, citing the fact that the chosen place – a monument to the victims of political repression at the Yegoshikha cemetery – was occupied on the declared date “in connection with the demolition and elimination of emergency trees.” The activists, however, managed to challenge the refusal in court, but the officials replied to the organizers of the rally that it was still impossible to gather at the cemetery, since “the goals of the planned public event violate the prohibitions provided for by the criminal and administrative legislation of the Russian Federation.” Nevertheless, members of PARNAS and OGRA held a subbotnik on February 26 at the planned place and laid flowers at the memorial.

In Novosibirsk, they abandoned the idea of ​​holding a funeral procession. On Saturday and Sunday, local residents carried carnations to the monument to the victims of political repression in Narymsky Square. In private, the politician was remembered in Nizhny Novgorod – here on Theater Square they put a portrait with a lamp and laid flowers over the weekend. Activists and members of Yabloko tried to gather people for a rally in Kazan, but the mayor’s office rejected all applications. As a result, about 20 people came out on Sunday to honor the memory of Mr. Nemtsov at the monument to the victims of political repression in Leninsky Garden. One of the smallest actions of memory took place on Monday in Ulyanovsk: five people stood up in a picket, agreed with the police and allowed by the mayor’s office, who, after the action near the Ekran square, went to the monument to the victims of political repressions and laid flowers.

In Yekaterinburg, on Labor Square on Monday, activists were allowed to “hold flowers,” Mikhail Borisov, chairman of the Sverdlovsk branch of PARNAS, told Kommersant.

He noted that by the evening of the working day, “people went almost smoothly.” It should be noted that in Yekaterinburg, for the first time, they decided to show in full a video interview with Boris Nemtsov, recorded for the Boris Yeltsin Museum. The interview was shown in the evening, all tickets for the event were bought out in 24 hours.

In St. Petersburg, at the time of writing, the action was still ongoing. From early Monday morning, Petersburgers carried flowers to the monument to the victims of political repressions and freedom fighters “Solovki stone”. Dozens of policemen and a paddy wagon were on duty here. During the day, none of those who came to honor the memory of the politician were detained, the police did not use loudspeakers and did not interfere with passers-by. It is impossible to estimate the number of people who came to the Solovetsky Stone during the whole day. Members of the St. Petersburg branch of Yabloko, including St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly member Boris Vishnevsky and Mundep Sergei Troshin, arrived at the rally in the evening. Speaking, Mr. Vishnevsky said that it is important to remember the victims of political assassinations, and expressed the hope that the time will come when the public will know the names of the murderers of Boris Nemtsov.

Recall that in 2017 the perpetrators of the murder – Zaur Dadaev, brothers Anzor and Shadid Gubashev, Temirlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhaev – were sentenced to imprisonment for terms of 11 to 20 years in a strict regime colony. The driver of the murder is considered to be the driver of the former commander of the battalion of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “North” Ruslan Mukhudinov, who paid the perpetrators at least 15 million rubles, he was put on the wanted list.

Maria Starikova; correspondent network “Kommersant”