Nemtsov Park, Plaque Unveiled Near Russian Embassy In Kyiv

KYIV -- A plaque honoring slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has been unveiled at a park near the Russian Embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko and Nemtsov's daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, took part in the ceremony on March 15.

An urban park near the area in front of the Russian Embassy was also named after Nemtsov, who was shot dead in Moscow in 2015.

Klitschko said at the ceremony that Nemtsov "always wished success to Ukraine."

"Boris Nemtsov harshly criticized the activities of the Russian Federation toward Ukraine, he condemned the annexation of Crimea, openly stated that Russian troops were present in the Donbas [Ukraine's east]. He was a person who supported and was concerned about our country," Klitschko said.

In June last year, authorities in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, unveiled a sign honoring Nemtsov and named a segment of the street in front of the Russian Embassy after him.

Boris Nemtsov Plaza was officially unveiled outside the Russian Embassy in Washington on February 27, 2018 -- the anniversary of Nemtsov's killing -- triggering criticism from Moscow.

А former deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin, Nemtsov was an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, and had sought to build a viable opposition movement. He was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin.

In July 2017, a Moscow court found five men from Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya guilty of Nemtsov's murder and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms.

But Nemtsov’s relatives and associates believe his killing was ordered at a higher level, and say justice will not be served until the person or people behind it are identified and prosecuted.