Putin vilifies killing of critic 
as a ‘disgrace’

Mr Putin condemned the death of Boris Nemtsov, who was shot while walking near the Kremlin in Moscow late on Friday.

It was his first public remark on the subject.

“The most serious attention must be paid to high-profile crimes, including those with a political motive,” he said.

“We must finally rid Russia of the disgrace and tragedy of the kinds of things we recently saw and experienced. I mean the audacious murder of Boris Nemtsov in the very centre of the capital.”

The past decade has seen many journalists and political opponents of Mr Putin assassinated. The conclusions of an inquiry are currently awaited in London into the polonium poisoning death of critic Alexander Litvinenko .