Unraveling the Nemtsov Conspiracy

Carlos Daez
Staff Reporter

*Note to editor: Professor Yuri Maltsev contributed a lot of valuable information from the
interview to the point that the purpose of this article is no longer to solely inform about the
conspiracies surrounding the hyped death of Boris Nemtsov but also to give readers a slight
insight into how the 'mindsets and workings' of Russian politics have affected outcomes.

Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was killed just outside the walls of the Kremlin in
Moscow last February 27. Since his death, people have been reacting to the news in a similar
manner with the Charlie Hebdo incident there are plenty of calls for justice, right, et cetera,
as well as demands for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is being accused of planning
the murder, to be removed1.

Who is Boris Nemtsov? Primarily a politician, he was best known for two things. First,
as a deputy prime minister to the Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, he introduced
capitalist policies to the newly-formed Russian Federation. Second, until his death, he was a
prominent critic of Putin.

Nemtsov was shot four times in the back; witnesses recall how the killing was
obstructed by a passing snow plow. Considering the nature of the shooting, the coincidence
of the vehicle's arrival, and the sparing of his companion, several major news outlets,
including CNN2 and the BBC3 have since labeled Nemtsov's death as an assassination.

But why Nemtsov? Between his time under Yeltsin and his death last week, he has
been considered irrelevant because he was just another of Putin's many detractors 4. The
number of theories being circulated regarding his death is growing, and some are standing
out more than others.
The first major theory points to Putin's direct involvement. This is primarily because of alleged

1 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31677506
2 http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/27/europe/russian-politician-killed/
3 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31677506 (same as above)
4 http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-28/the-russia-that-died-with-boris-nemtsov
evidence that Nemtsov was to present clandestine details meant to reveal the extent of
Russian involvement in Ukraines ongoing civil war 5. Another popular theory is that the
incident was meant to vilify Putin, as Nemtsov intended to lead an anti-government rally on
March 1 in death he would become an icon for the people's revolution. 6 A wilder theory
considers Ukrainian involvement Nemtsov's girlfriend was Ukrainian model Anna
Duritskaya. The fact that she was spared and deported immediately to Ukraine afterward is
highly suspicious.

The Current interviewed economics professor Yuri Maltsev, who had met Nemtsov
years ago in Washington, D.C. He recalled Nemtsov as 'a libertarian who was pro-free
market and anti-Putin.' And courageous, to be a member of the opposition, as 'the life
expectancies of those who dont like Putin drop like a rock

With a Russian's experiences and opinion on the events in Russia, the theory which for now
appears most convincing is that Putin ordered the hit: Mr. Maltsev likens the move to Soviet
dictator Josef Stalins assassination of political opponent Sergey Kirov, mentioning that 'Stalin
had instead accused all his enemies of killing Kirov.'

He considers Vladimir Putin's past as a member of the Soviet Union's intelligence

community: 'many people do not understand Russia...Russian intelligence communities are
not exactly as rational as U.S. ones...when the U.S. believe a person is no longer a threat,
they leave him. Russians...they kill people even when they aren't a threat anymore. Russians
like revenge.'

Professor Maltsev mourns the possible connections of the theories to the current
Ukrainian conflict: 'as an ethnic Russian, I know that Russians and Ukrainians are very close;
both are Slavic people...in fact, the first capital of Russia was in Kiev...Mr. Putin's war against
the Ukrainians is unbelievable.'

5 http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/03/02/how-war-in-ukraine-led-to-russian-opposition-leader-boris-
nemtsovs-death/
6 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/opposition-hold-vigil-murdered-kremlin-critic-150228235756637.html