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The Daily Vertical: Where The Streets Have Nemtsov's Name (Transcript)


The Vilnius city council voted unanimously this week to name either a street of a square in the Lithuanian capital after slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

The resolution called Nemtsov "a man who fought for a better world and for a democratic Russia."

Late last year, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko also announced plans to name a street in the Ukrainian capital after Nemtsov.

So much for the notion that pro-Western Lithuanians and Ukrainians are inherently anti-Russian, as the Kremlin's propaganda machine would have you believe.

Nemtsov, after all was Russian. In fact, I would argue he embodied the finest form of Russian patriotism -- as he truly wanted the best for his country.

And if you're anti-Russian, you probably wouldn't name a street in your capital after a Russian patriot, would you?

Meanwhile, in Russia itself, Nemtsov's supporters are still struggling to get any form of recognition a year after he was gunned down just blocks from the Kremlin.

Efforts to rename the bridge where he was assassinated in Moscow have fallen flat.

And adding insult to injury, pro-Kremlin activists have repeatedly vandalized the makeshift memorials Nemtsov's supporters have erected on the bridge.

Likewise, efforts by opposition State Duma Deputy Dmitry Gudkov to have a memorial erected in Nemtsov's native city of Nizhny Novgorod have been unsuccessful.

Sadly, it's probably going to be a long time before this Russian patriot is given the recognition in his homeland that he is already being accorded by Russia's allegedly anti-Russian neighbors.

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