article_snippet: A key figure in Boris Yeltsin's 1990s government, the Mr Nemtsov's was the most prominent figure in Russia's liberal opposition to be killed during President Vladimir Putin's 15-year rule.
article_snippet: Yesterday a top Nato official suggested Vladimir Putin's was responsible for Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov death as Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov accused the Russian president of silencing dissent at home while seeking to turn Ukraine into a failed state. '
article_snippet: Speaking to members of parliament from EU countries at a conference in Riga, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow went on: 'While we don't know who pulled the trigger, we do know that Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was a powerful voice for democracy and against Russia's involvement in Ukraine ...
article_snippet: (and) was among those vilified as "traitors" and "fifth columnists" in Russia's official propaganda.' '
article_snippet: Mr Nemtsov, a father of four, first gained an international profile after being spotted by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a future leader of Russia.
article_snippet: It has been reported that Nemtsov angered Putin's government two years ago when Nemtsov charged that billions of dollars had been stolen from funds designated for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Nemtsov hometown.
article_snippet: In January 2011, Nemtsov was sentenced to 15 days in jail after being arrested at a New Year's Eve protest rally for 'disobedience towards police'.
article_snippet: Nemtsov was a key figure in Russia's liberal, pro-West opposition .
article_snippet: Pro-West in Nemtsov ideology, Nemtsov had told U.S. diplomats Nemtsov wanted to take Russia on a pro-EU, pro-Nato course, including eventual membership of both organisations, according to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks. '
article_snippet: The key, Nemtsov argued, was to present this strategy as the only viable choice for Russia,' wrote a U.S. embassy attaché in the note dated February 2006.
article_snippet: But, the diplomat continued, 'Nemtsov also realizes that Nemtsov association with the Yeltsin era will probably limit support for any initiative with Nemtsov name on it, and Nemtsov is counting on the next generation of politicians to carry the liberal banner.'