RUSSIAN police said yesterday they had arrested four men over the killing of Boris Nemtsov, the leading opposition figure gunned down last weekend outside the Kremlin.
In an intriguing twist, one of the four, Zaur Dadayev, was said by Russian media to be deputy commander of an elite Chechen law enforcement unit.
The unit, the North battalion, is run by a relative of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen president, who is fiercely loyal to Vladimir Putin.
According to Kavkazsky Uzel, an opposition website in the Caucasus, Dadayev was awarded a Kremlin bravery medal in 2010 that was approved by Putin.
Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB — the successor service to the KGB — named the second suspect as Anzor Gubashev. A third suspect was identified by the media as his younger brother Shagil.
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The men are thought to have been tracked down via traces of DNA found in a car used in the killing. Police said they were also looking for four accomplices.
Nemtsov, 55, was shot as he walked home after dinner with Anna Duritskaya, 23, his glamorous Ukrainian girlfriend. It was the highest-profile political killing since Putin came to power 15 years ago.
One unnamed source in the security services was quoted by the Russian media as saying the person who had ordered the killing was outside the country — prompting fears that the case would remain unsolved.
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This was later contradicted by prosecutors, who said they believed the men had organised the killing as well as carrying it out.
The alleged link to Kadyrov could prove embarrassing for the Kremlin. The Chechen president has made no secret that he considered Nemtsov an enemy because of his opposition to Russian involvement in the war in eastern Ukraine.
A small group of Chechens have fought alongside the pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine, lending weight to suspicions of a link to the conflict.
Putin’s supporters are likely to use the nationality of the alleged killers to back their rival claim that Nemtsov was killed by Islamists angered by his support of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists in Paris — a hypothesis doubted by Nemtsov’s friends.
Putin made no comment on the arrests. Members of the opposition were sceptical the investigation would ever establish the truth.
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“There’s a lot of mistrust of law enforcement in Russian society, so it’s too early to make any conclusions about the arrests,” said Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister turned opposition figure.
Most people rule out direct Kremlin involvement in the killing but nevertheless blame it for fomenting a xenophobic nationalism in which critics of the government are branded “national traitors” and “fifth columnists”.
Last week it emerged that Putin did not attend Nemtsov’s funeral for fear he would be jeered at by the crowd, according to sources close to the government. The Russian leader is also said to have been worried his presence at the service held for Nemtsov — who was fiercely critical of him — could have angered the dead man’s 86-year-old mother.
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“The last thing Putin wants is a scene,” a source said. “Imagine he turned up to make a noble gesture and people started shouting at him in front of the world’s media or Nemtsov’s mother expressed displeasure. It would have been deeply embarrassing.”
Putin appears in public only at carefully orchestrated events — an apparent reaction to the booing to which he was subjected when he made an impromptu speech during a martial arts bout at a packed stadium in 2011.
Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister, also stayed away from the memorial service, which was attended by thousands of Muscovites. The government was instead represented by only a couple of middle-ranking officials.
Several leading opposition figures have complained of receiving death threats since the murder. During the memorial service a man apparently whispered to Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite and opposition figure: “You know you’re next, Ksenia?”
Dmitry Gudkov, an opposition Duma deputy who was close to Nemtsov, has received a threat on his Twitter account, declaring: “You’re next in line, f*****”.
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“Before Boris’s killing we thought at worst we risked being jailed — now no one is safe. The message is that anyone can be killed,” Gudkov said.
“It’s become far more dangerous, but what choice do I have but to keep up my work? I don’t want to end up living in a Russia resembling North Korea. Nor will I flee. This is my country.”
Duritskaya, the only witness to the assassination, was allowed to fly home to Ukraine after being questioned for three days by Russian investigators. She, too, has received threats and her lawyer said she had a Ukrainian police escort.
Some such as Garry Kasparov, the chess grandmaster and a fierce Putin critic, see the direct involvement of the Kremlin in the murder.
“Boris Nemtsov was killed because he could be killed,” said Kasparov, who left Russia for America two years ago, fearing for his safety.
“Putin and his elites believe after 15 years of power there is nothing they can’t do, no line they can’t cross.”
The Kremlin leader’s own attitude to the death of his political foe is difficult to discern. He drew criticism by initially describing the killing as a “provocation” — hinting at a conspiracy to discredit him. Sources said he then ordered a toning -down of coverage on state television that had been derogatory towards Nemtsov.
Putin is also thought to have given permission for a memorial march attended by more than 50,000 to pass the crime scene last Sunday after city authorities initially refused to let it take place.
“Putin despised Nemtsov but he would never have him killed,” said a friend of the opposition politician. “But he’ll be in a sticky position if investigators discover that he was killed on the orders of a Putin ally who wanted to please the president. If this crime isn’t solved then it will really look like a cover-up.”