Boris Nemtsov, opposition leader and a former deputy prime minister of Russia, has been shot and killed in the center of Moscow. Nemtsov was gunned down within several yards from the Kremlin.

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Boris Nemtsov was one of the most prominent Russian politicians of the early 1990's and 2000's. After serving as governor of the Nizhniy Novgorod region in 1991—1997, he was at one time vetted as President Boris Yeltsin's potential successor. Nemtsov was also a long time leader of the liberal Soyus Pravykh Sil (Union of Right Forces).

In the 2000's Nemtsov became an opposition leader and an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. He authored several works on corruption in Russia and the enrichment of Putin's inner circle.