Kommersant Publishing House correspondent Grigory Tumanov in an interview with Kommersant FM

How is the investigation into the murder of Boris Nemtsov progressing? Who could be interested in his murder? And why is the Russian opposition going through difficult times without Nemtsov? These and other questions were answered by Kommersant Publishing House correspondent Grigory Tumanov and Nemtsov family lawyer Vadim Prokhorov to radio news presenters Anatoly Kuzichev and Konstantin Eggert as part of the “Democracy” program.

Photo: Alexander Miridonov, Kommersant / buy photo

“When you are offended, it can be a reason for retribution”

Grigory Tumanov about the versions of the investigation: “The general plot looks like this: there is this character Mukhutdinov, who came to mind some time ago that Boris Nemtsov should not be alive, and therefore he, in fact, organized such a story. But the version is the most difficult. You remember, there was a religious version, there were stories about cartoons and so on, but it must be said that even those who remember Dadaev did the same thing, because the story there was that he was terribly offended there. His former colleague told me that Zaur, of course, may have prayed, but it’s not to say that he was generally very devout. As for whether he was interested in the personality of Boris Nemtsov in general, no, because he remembered political classes during which Zaur Dadaev always slept; this was of no interest to him.”

“I think that someone higher than Mukhutdinov, relatively speaking, I still don’t know, I don’t understand why at all, threw out a phrase in the spirit of “I’m tired of this Nemtsov.” I think there may be a misinterpreted story here, a broken phone. I just don’t really understand why anyone needs the murdered Nemtsov, seriously.”

“There is a popular opinion that they kill not for some kind of assets or something, but for, conditionally, an insult in the format: “I stepped on my toe, that’s all now.” I'm not saying that these are always emotional motives devoid of pragmatics. I say that this is completely acceptable, because remember, one of my colleagues wrote about the fact that this is our code of honor, that the worst thing for us is when you are offended, insulted. And this could really be a reason for reckoning.”

“Boris Nemtsov was a man who united the opposition”

Grigory Tumanov about the role of Boris Nemtsov in the activities of the Russian opposition: “When Nemtsov was first killed, I went through many of his acquaintances, naturally, when the Chechen trace emerged, I met with one of the representatives, one of the leaders of our “swamp” opposition. We got to talking, and he explained that the opposition is now going through hard times, including due to the departure of Boris Nemtsov. Because, as it turned out after his murder, he was a terrible unifying factor, he knew how to come to an agreement with everyone, call everyone somewhere and resolve all disputes that related to certain mass actions. And in this sense, his influence is truly difficult to overestimate. He was a terribly energetic and extremely charismatic person, we all remember how he communicated both formally and informally.”

Lawyer for the family of Boris Nemtsov, Vadim Prokhorov, on the progress of the investigation: “The investigation took place in several stages: at first the investigation was headed by General Krasnov Igor Viktorovich, for the first two months, who is considered one of the best detectives in the ICR system. Indeed, probably the best detective, and quite energetic, apolitical and in this regard, I would say, aimed, first of all, at the result of the disclosure. At the end of April he was promoted. The leader of the group was General Nikolai Vasilyevich Tutevich, who also led a number of cases against immigrants from Chechnya.

I would like to note that since March, in comparison with what happened in March, unfortunately, if there has been progress, then, first of all, at the level of performers. Those detained perpetrators who are now sitting in Lefortovo and with a high degree of probability apparently are (their roles are different, their degrees of guilt are probably also different), as it seems to me, are not random people, but actually participated in the execution of this villainous murder . As for the customers and organizers, this is more difficult, because I heard the names of both Ruslan Eremeev and Ruslan Mukhutdinov from the same Krasnov in March-April. In this regard, no significant progress has occurred since then.

Moreover, the investigation has had enough strength to date to bring charges in absentia and to put on the wanted list only one of them, and the much less significant Ruslan Mukhutdinov. His partner, senior comrade, I mean in terms of influence, Ruslan Eremeev, who in many ways played a significant role here, still does not have the status of an accused person and is not wanted. Apparently, not the least reason is that Ruslan Eremeev is part of Mr. Kadyrov’s inner circle.”

“Such high-profile crimes are unlikely to be committed at the driver level”

Grigory Tumanov about the ambiguity of the charges against Ruslan Makhutdinov: “Now a breakthrough has occurred, because Ruslan Eremeev and Ruslan Makhutdinov have been put on the wanted list. Makhutdinov is a mythical Rusik who previously appeared in testimony and in criminal cases in general. Mythical because no one has seen it. Eremeev is a colleague in the Sever battalion, as we remember, from an influential Chechen family. As for Makhutdinov, he is a very strange character, because he allegedly handed over money for the murder, allegedly handed over guns, and is almost one of the main organizers of all this. It is very difficult to simply assume that Eremeev’s driver, who belongs, as I already said, to an influential Chechen family, could be the organizer and, moreover, the customer of such a resonant crime. That is, it looks very strange so far. It seems to me that the general logic should lead somewhat higher and clearly not to the driver. I don’t know, of course, specific names, specific high-ranking characters from the Chechen government. But obviously such high-profile crimes are unlikely to be committed at the driver level.”

On the reasons for the demands to include Zolotov in the Nemtsov case: “We need tools that allow us to constantly keep the case in sight, because there are so many events around, even the Nemtsov case can be forgotten. And then such a loud initiative appears that does not allow it. If you keep in mind the irritation that such an initiative may cause, it is probably better not to try at all. Remember, in my opinion, Chubais recommended that Zhanna Nemtsova not initiate Kadyrov. There are different opinions on this, of course.”

“The opposition is going through hard times right now”