Lawyer Says Chechen Interior Ministry Officer Charged In Nemtsov Murder

A lawyer for the family of Boris Nemtsov says investigators have charged a member of Chechnya’s security forces in connection with the murder of the slain Russian opposition leader.

Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said on November 9 that Ruslan Mukhutdinov, a member of the Sever battalion of Chechnya’s Interior Ministry, was charged in absentia with organizing the killing of Nemtsov near the Kremlin.

Prokhorov said the charges were filed on November 6 by Russia’s Central Investigative Committee.

Netmtsov was assassinated by a gunman on Moscow’s Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge near the Kremlin on February 27.

He was shot dead hours after appealing to the public to support a march against Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Five other suspects from Russia's North Caucasus who have been implicated in the case remain in custody under an order of Moscow’s Basmanny Court.

Nemtsov’s assassination has been met by widespread international condemnation and has raised concerns about the situation for Russia’s opposition.

With reporting by Interfax and TASS