‘This is not something to memorialize’

It’s the five-year anniversary of Boris Nemtsov’s assassination. Here’s how the Kremlin responded.

Ekho Moskvy: Today is the five-year anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov. First of all, I would like to ask — does the Kremlin find it necessary to perpetuate the memory of Boris Nemtsov?

Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov: As far as I know, there have not been any initiatives from the Kremlin on that count.

Ekho Moskvy: And to what degree does the Kremlin believe this crime has been investigated fully, that those who ordered and committed it have been found?

Peskov: Here I must decline to answer, as I am not familiar with all the details of the investigation. I simply do not have such information at my disposal.

RTVi: Does the Kremlin welcome the opening of Nemtsov Square in Prague, and how will the Kremlin mark the anniversary of Nemtsov’s murder?

Peskov: It is hardly likely that anyone will mark the anniversary of Nemtsov’s murder. That would be wrong. To respond definitively to your question: The Kremlin will not be marking this event in any way. This is not something to memorialize. And as for the square in Prague, it appears to be the sovereign right of the authorities in that city. We, of course, would prefer that city authorities also would not forget the Red Army, the Red Army soldiers who sacrificed their lives to liberate that city from the fascists.