Kremlin CCTV cameras were 'switched off for repairs' when Boris Nemtsov was shot

Unexplained: CCTV cameras were allegedly shut off when Boris Nemtsov was shot, a newspaper claimed

2 March 2015

CCTV cameras on the Kremlin were switched off when opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was shot dead, it was claimed today.

This would mean that vital footage of the assassination of Vladimir Putin’s critic would not be available to state investigators.

The view of what is believed to be the only working CCTV camera in the area at the time was obscured by a snow-clearing truck, which passed the scene at the exact moment Nemtsov, 55, who was with his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya, was shot four times on Friday.

A camera on the Kremlin’s Becklemishevskaya Tower was pointing at the scene on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky bridge but was “switched off for repairs”, said newspaper Kommersant, which is owned by Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov.

The news came after Andrey Illarionov, a former economic aide to Vladimir Putin, said the snowplough could have been part of the plan.

“It all does look like a really well orchestrated operation,” he said, adding it was “totally weird” that there was no other traffic on the bridge at the moment of the murder.

Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Ms Duritskaya — a 23-year-old Ukrainian model — said he was complaining to the Russian prosecutor general over her “illegal custody”.

“Investigators don’t want to let her leave for Ukraine,” said Vadim Prokhorov.

He said Ms Duritskaya had been told to remain in Moscow until mid-week, but that she was upset to be kept under armed guard.

“She is ready to come back to Russia if need be, but investigators don’t want to let her go. As a witness, she is not denied the freedom of movement but actually she is under home arrest.”

He said Ms Duritskaya had “categorically refused” to accept the bodyguards provided by investigators.

“Despite this fact, two to four men are accompanying her. More men are standing guard at her apartment,” he said.

The Russian Investigative Committee, which is probing the murder, said that she was a key witness and that detectives “have reasons to conduct additional investigative actions with her”.

But Mr Prokhorov said Ms Duritskaya had given “all the necessary witness accounts”, and was seeking help from the Ukrainian consul to be allowed to return to her homeland.

Tens of thousands of people marched in protest at the murder in Moscow yesterday, with a further 6,000 protesting in St Petersburg.

Kremlin CCTV cameras were 'switched off for repairs' when Boris Nemtsov was shot

Read More