--- description: The Russian president spoke about the "brazen murder" of Boris Nemtsov title: Putin: Political Killings Are 'the Shame and Tragedies' of Russia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87b7a13758fc5e77/6987821c55a859b0c0a86241/putin-nemtsov.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Putin Says He'll Rid Russia of 'Shame and Tragedies' of Political Killings  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2015 5:41 PM CUT  Russian president Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of the Russian Interior Ministry's Collegium on March4, 2015 in Moscow. Russian president Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of the Russian Interior Ministry's Collegium on March4, 2015 in Moscow.Mikhail Metzel—Corbis  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2015 5:41 PM CUT Russian President Vladimir Putin says it is “necessary to finally [rid Russia of the shame and tragedies”](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31728623 "undefined") of political killings following the murder of former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov. Putin’s televised remarks to the interior ministry come several days after Nemtsov was fatally shot on Friday, the BBC reports. Nemtsov had been a vocal opponent of Russia’s role in the in eastern Ukraine conflict and said he worried the president would have him killed because of his criticism. Putin’s aides have denied the Kremlin’s involvement. “It is necessary to finally rid Russia of the shame and tragedies like the one that we lived through and saw quite recently,” Putin said. “I mean the murder, the brazen murder of Boris Nemtsov right in the center of the capital.” The Russian President had previously called Nemtsov’s murder a “provocation,” a word that, [as TIME’s Europe correspondent Simon Shuster has reported](http://time.com/3727379/putin-boris-nemtsov-kremlin-provocation/ "undefined"), carries more than one meaning: --- > “” --- Putin has said he will work to bring Nemtsov’s assassins to justice. Meanwhile, Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s federal security service, told reporters curious about possible suspects Tuesday that “there are always suspects.” \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31728623 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3731849/putin-political-killings-shame-and-tragedy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3731849/putin-political-killings-shame-and-tragedy/"},"headline":"Putin Says He'll Rid Russia of 'Shame and Tragedies' of Political Killings","datePublished":"2015-03-04T17:41:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:54:32.240Z","description":"The Russian President's remarks come days after the murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov","url":"https://time.com/3731849/putin-political-killings-shame-and-tragedy/","keywords":["russia","Vladimir Putin"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87b7a13758fc5e77/6987821c55a859b0c0a86241/putin-nemtsov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87b7a13758fc5e77/6987821c55a859b0c0a86241/putin-nemtsov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Putin attends Russian Interior Ministry Collegium meeting","caption":"President Putin attends Russian Interior Ministry Collegium meeting","creditText":"Mikhail Metzel—Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3731849/putin-political-killings-shame-and-tragedy/","name":"Putin Says He'll Rid Russia of 'Shame and Tragedies' of Political Killings"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Vladimir Putin's Year in Review","description":"From the annexation of Crimea to the crisis in Eastern Ukraine, this Person of the Year runner-up left an indelible mark on 2014","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kIRZQPUV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-10T11:45:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kIRZQPUV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3731849/putin-political-killings-shame-and-tragedy/","duration":"PT3M46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3731849/putin-political-killings-shame-and-tragedy/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```