Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition leader who was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin late on February 27, was buried on Moscow's Troyekurovskoye Cemetery on March 3. Earlier, family members stood by Nemtsov's open coffin as thousands of mourners filed into the Sakharov Center, a prominent civil-rights organization in Moscow, to pay their last respects at a public memorial service.
Mourners in winter coats filed by the coffin, a few wiping away tears, in a public ritual that has followed the killings of several prominent Russians who have challenged Putin's government since he came to power 15 years ago.
Several European politicians said Russia had refused them entry to attend the funeral, including the speaker of Poland's Senate, Bogdan Borusewicz and Latvian lawmaker Sandra Kalniete. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the killing a "provocation" to destabilize the country, will not attend. Instead, he is sending his representative in parliament, Garry Minkh.
Mourners in winter coats filed by the coffin, a few wiping away tears, in a public ritual that has followed the killings of several prominent Russians who have challenged Putin's government since he came to power 15 years ago.
Several European politicians said Russia had refused them entry to attend the funeral, including the speaker of Poland's Senate, Bogdan Borusewicz and Latvian lawmaker Sandra Kalniete. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the killing a "provocation" to destabilize the country, will not attend. Instead, he is sending his representative in parliament, Garry Minkh.
