( CNN ) Slain Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov knew criticizing the Kremlin was dangerous , but thought his fame would protect him . The 55-year-old was walking home from dinner with his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya when he was gunned down in Moscow on Friday . Nemtsov had been arrested several times for speaking against Putin 's government . The most recent arrests were in 2011 when he protested the results of parliamentary elections and in 2012 when tens of thousands protested against Putin . In an interview with CNN 's Anthony Bourdain last year , Nemtsov spoke of the deaths of other Kremlin critics , but said his fame offered some protection . `` I 'm a well-known guy , and this is a safety because if something happens with me , it will be scandal not only in Moscow city but throughout the world , '' he said then . After Nemtsov was shot , Putin condemned the killing and ordered three law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting , the Kremlin said in a statement . But critics of Putin have in the past suffered miserable fates . Last year , a Moscow court sentenced five men to prison for the 2006 killing of Russian journalist and fierce Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya . Business magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky accused Putin of corruption and spent 10 years in prison and labor camps . Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko accused state security services of organizing a coup to put Putin in power . He was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive polonium and died in London in 2006 . No killer has been caught . In their 2014 interview , Nemtsov told Bourdain he believed Russia 's existing power structure was like 19th century Russia , with one person in control and no real freedom of press , real competition or elections or an independent judiciary or rule of law . `` You are in the typical country of crony capitalism , '' he said . `` If you have a good relationship with Putin and his people around , you will have a good relationship with governor or mayor -- it does n't matter . If you are in the city you have a chance to raise money , to be successful ... you know , to buy real estate in the south of France or Switzerland , to open accounts in Swiss banks . `` But , if something happened between you and Putin and you are governor , you will be in jail . '' Nemstov said in most places around the world , wealth provided opportunity and independence , but said that it was different in Russia . `` To be wealthy , you must be loyal . If you want to be independent , forget about business , forget about raising money , '' he said . `` If you are rich , you are a slave . If you are rich , you are very much dependent . '' Many people preferred to be able make money and not speak out , he said . `` This is a country of corruption , '' Nemtsov said . `` For Putin 's Russia , this is a system . This is not a problem . '' `` If you are corrupted , but you are loyal , and you serve the Kremlin , you are first of all rich and secondly you are in a very safe position . ''
Kremlin critic and opposition figure NemtsovBoris Nemtsov was fatally shot in Moscow on Friday . In 2014 he had told CNN 's Anthony Bourdain his fame offered some protection . Boris Nemtsov criticized Putin 's Russia in the interview saying the power system was corrupt .