opponents of vladimir putin last night feared a new wave of political assassinations after a series of chilling death threats were issued to friends of murdered politician boris nemtsov in moscow, a funeral wreath was delivered to the home of an aide to putin’s arch enemy, exiled oligarch mikhail khodorkovsky and amid reports of a ‘death list’ compiled by chechen hitmen loyal to putin, another in nemtsov’s circle, glamorous socialite turned politician kseniya sobchak, yesterday said she had hired armed guards after being warned at his funeral: ‘you’re next’ the news came amid wild rumours over putin’s continued non appearance in public, fuelling talk of a power struggle behind the scenes fear: friends of the murdered opposition leader boris nemtsov (right) are in fear for their lives, after rumours of a 'hit list' began to circulate   naming people like socialite turned politician kseniya sobchak (right) disappearance: the rumours came as vladimir putin failed to appear in public   fuelling rumours of a behind the scenes power struggle  sceptics were unconvinced by photos of the president meeting the chairman of russia’s supreme court released on friday, suspicious over when they were taken nemtsov, 55, was gunned down within yards of the kremlin on february 27 while walking on a bridge with his girlfriend, model anna duritskaya, 23 ms sobchak, 33, said that since his funeral she has ‘enhanced her security’, adding: ‘now i have to walk around with bodyguards’ khodorkovsky’s press secretary, olga pispanen, found the wreath containing 60 flowers outside her moscow flat on wednesday and uploaded a picture to facebook ‘there was no note,’ she told the moscow times ‘i don’t know where it came from, but it is a funeral wreath’ khodorkovsky, once russia’s richest man, served ten years in jail on fraud charges his supporters said were trumped up in revenge for the former oil tycoon interfering in politics after being freed in 2013 he moved to switzerland, but is often seen in london meanwhile, another friend of nemtsov revealed just how rattled he became after receiving a death threat last summer, following a post on his blog about chechens fighting alongside pro russian rebels in ukraine ludmila shabueva, a senior journalist at independent radio station echo of moscow, said: ‘boris came to our station to take part in a show i asked him why he looked so upset ‘he replied, “luda, they want to kill me”  he showed me a text message which read, “jackal i will kill you”’ november 1998: less than four months after putin took over takes at the kgb, galina starovoitova, the most prominent pro democracy kremlin critic was murdered the politician, who was state duma deputy at the time, was shot to death in the stairwell of her home in central st petersburg in what appeared to be a 'politically motivated' attack march 2000: putin was elected as leader and russian ordered attacks in chechnya opposition leaders, especially those who reported on the conflict in chechnya were killed reporters igor domnikov, sergey novikov, iskandar khatloni, sergey ivanov and adam tepsurgayev were all killed in 2000 alone april 2003: sergei yushenkov, co chairman of the liberal russia political party was gunned down at the entrance of his moscow apartment block viktor yushchenko (left), anti russian candidate for the presidency of the ukraine, was poisoned by dioxin in 2004 and galina starovoitova, the most prominent pro democracy kremlin critic, was shot in 1998  he had been serving as the vice chair of the group known as the 'kovalev commission' which was formed to investigate charges that putin's kgb had planted support for the war in chechnya july 2003: yuri shchekochikhin, a vocal opposition journalist and member of the russian duma and the kovalev commission contracted a mysterious illness witnesses said he complained about fatigue, and red blotches began to appear on his skin they said: 'his internal organs began collapsing one by one then he lost almost all his hair' june 2004: nikolai girenko, a prominent human rights defender, professor of ethnology and expert on racism and discrimination in the russian federation is shot dead in his home in st petersburg july 2004: paul klebnikov, editor of the russian edition forbes magazine, was shot and killed in moscow forbes reported that at the time of his death, paul was believed to have been investigating a complex web of money laundering involving a chechen reconstruction fund and the kremlin former spy alexander litvinenko (pictured) was killed in 2006, leading to a clouding of relations between london and moscow september 2004: viktor yushchenko, anti russian candidate for the presidency of the ukraine, was poisoned by dioxin september 2006: andrei kozlov, first deputy chairman of russia's central bank, who strove to stamp out money laundering was shot and killed in moscow november 2006: former spy alexander litvinenko was killed in 2006, leading to a clouding of relations between london and moscow the 43 year old had been an officer with the federal security service (fsb), the successor to the kgb, but he fled to britain where he became a fierce critic of the kremlin october 2006: anna politkovskaya, author of countless books  exposing russian human rights violations in chechnya and articles attacking vladimir putin as a dictator was killed in moscow she had written: 'i have wondered a great deal why i have so got it in for putin what is it that makes me dislike him so much as to feel moved to write a book about him?' january 2009: stanislav markelov, a human rights lawyer, was shot after leaving a news conference less than half a mile from the kremlin in january 2009 he was appealing the early release of yuri budanov, a russian military officer convicted of killing a young chechen woman july 2009: leading russian human rights journalist and activist natalya estemirova was abducted in front of her home in grozny, chechnya, taken across the border into ingushetia where she was shot and dumped in a roadside gutter
boris nemtsov mikhail khodorkovsky kseniya sobchak
opponents in fear of a wave of political assassinations after death threats . rumours of a 'hit list' in wake of opposition leader boris nemtsov's murder . close aide to exiled oligarch mikhail khodorkovsky sent a funeral wreath . socialite turned politician kseniya sobchak warned 'you're next' at funeral 