The assassination of Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition leader, in broad daylight on a bridge near the Kremlin at the end of February was a terrorist act.
We shall probably never know for certain who was behind this murder, which happened to be very convenient for President Vladimir Putin as Nemtsov had planned to lead a protest march against Russia's dictatorial regime and to expose Putin's aim of destabilizing Ukraine.
Not content with denying involvement in the murder, Putin, who seems incapable of telling the truth, has propagated the usual conspiracy theory that the murder was a Western plot. It certainly belies his claim of having brought stability to Russia. He may use this tragedy as an excuse for further cracking down on the opposition.