![Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge,](https://www.eurozine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/8350ca97bb3f63c343d47ddbca9c29d3.jpg)
At 11:30 pm on Friday 27 February 2015, Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken Russian opposition leader, was shot in the back. The assassin fired off six shots; four of the bullets struck Nemtsov, one in the heart. He died instantly. The only explanation not being given in Moscow for Nemtsov’s assassination is the blindingly obvious one: that Nemtsov was murdered for his opposition activities and, specifically, for his very public criticism of Vladimir Putin’s secret war in Ukraine.