On the anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov, we publish chapters from the book of Jeanne Nemtsova “The daughter of his father” (Bombor publishing house)

At the Bank "Neftyanaya" father worked for a couple of years. This was obvious: he will not be able to be silent regarding what was happening in the country. And the participation of the top manager of the commercial bank in the opposition movement carries significant business risks.

In 2007, my father’s book “Confession of the rebel”, which he wrote together with Pavel Sheremet, was published. Sheremet, a famous Russian and Belarusian journalist, then continued to work on Channel One. Today, Paul, like my father, is no longer alive. He was killed in 2016 in Kyiv. (...) Explosives were laid under the machine. The murder has not yet been disclosed.

(...) The Confession of the rebel is my father’s manifesto, in which he gave an accurate definition of the path that Vladimir Putin chose for the country, and at the same time explained the reasons for his return to politics. Here is what he wrote in the preface: “I am starting a political struggle, because I do not agree with the course that the President of Russia holds. I do not agree with the sovereign democracy, with its censorship, lacuing, cruelty and cynicism. I do not agree with Latin American capitalism, where the main characters are greedy monopolies and arrogant officials. All this makes Russia serfdom and cruel. And we need Russia free and humane. ” I was pleased that he mentions me with the hope that my Koropilia could save Russia from authoritarianism. Now I already assume that such a generation may be the following behind mine. In the same book, the father wrote about the threat of Lukashization of Russia, which, according to him, is deadly for the country.

In 2006, such forecasts seemed too gloomy, and in 2021 no one was surprised at the comparison of Russia with Belarus. The father was one of the few who could see the tendency -

And correctly interpret it. (...)

By the way, one of the points that the father considered indicative was the fact that the anthem changed in Russia. Instead of the “patriotic song” of Mikhail Glinka in the 2000s, the country returned to the “Soviet” anthem of Alexander Alexandrov. Poems for the “new” anthem were written by Sergey Mikhalkov, who wrote poetry for his Soviet version.

Father said that he was discussing the return of the old-new anthem with Putin. And he answered him:

- What people, such and songs (...)

(...) The unlimited act “Strategy 31”, which was initiated by Eduard Limonov, started. Her goal was to protect the 31st article of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of peaceful meetings and processions (...). Each 31th day of the month activists gathered on the triumphal square. The Limonovites were under strong pressure from the authorities, so human rights activists supported the initiative, including Lyudmila Alekseev. Father also periodically took part in the shares of Strategy 31.

The shares of "Strategy 31" were inconsistent, the authorities were extremely negative about them. Despite the relatively small number of participants, a disproportionately large riot police were pulled on to the triumphal square, and many were detained.

On December 31, 2010, I had already divorced my husband and lived with a friend Angelica in a rented apartment. We had to celebrate the New Year, in general, with anyone.

“Let's meet together,” my father suggested to me. - Only in the early evening we go to the Triumphal Square, I will perform at the rally - and then we will go to celebrate.

I agreed. I have never been to any rallies before. We went with Angelica.

Father went up to an impromptu tribune, performed - as always, he lit up all those gathered with his speech. However, there were few gathered, a maximum of 300 people. After he talked with the participants in the action and journalists. Suddenly, OMON surrounded his father, pushing all the supporters from him. I realized: they are going to arrest. (...)

I was terribly scared that they could also arrest me. Together with Angelica, we hid behind the Soyuz Printing kiosk. And a minute later they rushed to run. It seems that we ran from Mayakovskaya to Belorusskaya in five minutes - and only there we already stopped to catch our breath.

I gained my father when he was already traveling in a car carrier in the police department. We talked briefly, then we took the phone from him. He spent New Year's Eve in a cold chamber in the police department. For my father, this was the first arrest in my life. The court was appointed on January 3.

I will say right away: I did not expect that justice would be performed in this court. But I did not expect that everything would be so bad. The court lasted 5-6 hours. All this time, the father was forced to stand - the judge Borovkova refused to give him a chair. Try to stand 5 hours - it looks like torture. Judge Borovkova, at that time-a 27-year-old girl, did not hide her negative attitude to my father. At some point, I caught myself thinking: "Why is she angry like a dog?!"

Father was blamed for the fact that he allegedly wanted to initiate riots and lead people to the Kremlin. I knew for sure: he was not going to lead any people. And he was going to celebrate the New Year at home with me and Angelica.

The side of the defense called me as a witness, I spoke, talked about it. Judge Borovkova took my testimony: I am a daughter, which means that my testimonies are not impartial. Angelica also spoke at the trial, but her testimony did not play any role - the father was given 15 days of administrative arrest.

He served them in a special -reception No. 1 on Simferopol Boulevard. We came to him, passed food. Sometimes he was even taken to us - to see. Every day they made it possible to use the phone. In general, the concepts of “can and impossible” in specialists are strongly dependent on the administration. The leaders of the special receiver on Simferopol Boulevard treated his father very well - they even allowed him to take a shower daily. I understood the degree of their loyalty, when he later got into another special receiver, where outwardly everything looked much better, but at the same time, incredibly strict and places of irrational rules acted. There was a clear list of products that were accepted, and, for example, some vegetables could be transmitted, while others cannot be transmitted. The possibility of a meeting with the detainee was excluded.

Then, in the early days of January 2011, I thought how my father feels:

In 1998, he was the first deputy prime minister of the Russian government, and now he was sitting in a temporary detention center in a fabricated administrative case.

At this time, he was already in a radical opposition to Putin (...).

And on December 10, 2010, Prime Minister Putin, during a direct line, accused my father, Vladimir Milov and Vladimir Ryzhkov of theft of billions in the 1990s, he then said his famous “Mustained in the 1990s”. All three filed a lawsuit against Putin to protect honor, dignity and business reputation. The case was lost, Putin’s lawyer said that the names of Nemtsov, Ryzhkov and Milov were used as common names. And the court, which is not surprising in Russia under Putin, took his point of view. Perhaps this statement was not a signal to rhetorical, but to real repressions regarding the opposition. (...)

The struggle became increasingly dangerous, and the prospects for the return of democratic procedures - foggy. I think my father realized the risks, not without reason he said in one of his interviews: “I naively thought that there were a lot of passionate people in the country. This is absolute nonsense. People who are ready to risk their freedom and prosperity are negligible, we are all in the Red Book. ” (...)

In 2011, protest moods intensified in Russia: falsifications in the parliamentary elections were so obvious that many did not believe the official results announced on TV. Then a famous meme about the United Russia party appeared, which gained 146% of the vote.

A wave of rallies swept around Russia. People took to the streets not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also in other cities. The next year, 2012 became no less protest: this year Vladimir Putin again became president (now for a 6-year term, the extension of the deadline for presidential powers has already been established in the Constitution), which led to new rallies.

Surprisingly, these rallies were then even shown on the first channel. But on May 6, 2012 there were mass detentions in Bolotnaya Square, despite the fact that the rally was agreed. Then the so -called “swamp business” was opened, many of his defendants received real prison terms on false, in my opinion, accusations of organizing and participating in the riots.

They killed about Tzha

I extremely emotionally perceived everything that happened in 2014. She told her father:

- You need to leave Russia.

“I'll tell you myself when you need to leave.” Do not moss (this is one of the branded words of the father, it means “do not be afraid.” - Approx. Aut. ), He answered.

March 26, 2014 I turned 30 years old. My father was not at this holiday. He called me, said:

“I'm in Israel, you have to come to me.”

I flew in. We talked about everything for a long time and seriously. He hesitated then - to return to Russia or not? I promised him that I would not say anything to RBC regarding his thoughts. (...)

But Ksenia Sobchak publicly spoke about my father's plans to stay in Israel. Moreover, she reported this as a failed fact, although there was no final decision. The father did not hide his whereabouts, met with many of his friends and consulted with some of them. The famous writer and Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky recommended that his father stay abroad, but to the direct question: "Would you return to Russia?" - He answered: "Yes, I would return."

Father returned to Russia. I don’t know what forced him. But I am sure: one of the reasons was - he was afraid that he would be considered a coward that left the country and, most importantly, left his associates.

At the arrival, he photographed in front of the Domodedovo airport. And he posted a photograph with the signature: "Especially for Ksenia Sobchak: I returned."

I also seriously thought about leaving Russia. Feeling great solidarity with Ukrainians, I thought that I wanted to live in Kyiv.

“Dad, I decided to leave for Ukraine,” said Father.

- You know what? He answered. - You first find the work there, and then move.

I went to Kyiv. Meet with friends, talked about the situation in the country and realized that, not knowing the Ukrainian language, I would not find work. I returned to Russia.

“Work on RBC until you were fired,” said the father.

And I worked. It seemed strange that only a year and a half ago we talked about completely different, much more pleasant things: in 2013, the father became a deputy of the Yaroslavl Regional Duma.

Shortly before that, the mayor of Yevgeny Urlashov was arrested in Yaroslavl for attempting to receive a bribe (he was subsequently sentenced to 12.5 years in a maximum security colony and a fine).

(...) Obviously, protest moods were strong in Yaroslavl. After the arrest of Urlashov, the townspeople went to the rally in his support. At the same time, the father decided to participate in the elections to the regional Duma of the region, heading the regional list of the RPR-Parnas party.

I was very surprised to learn about such a decision. But she thought: well, Yaroslavl so Yaroslavl.

The election campaign began. Father took the chief of staff Ilya Yashin. And they laid out to the maximum. Once again I was amazed at how subtly my father feels people and moods in society. For example, one of the directions of his election program was a call to a healthy lifestyle.

He said that he would build sports grounds in the open air. But the slogan, under which he spoke about the trail and sports grounds, was: "Guys, stop thumping!" - Such a call was remembered instantly. (...)

“You will win this election,” I told him.

- Where did you get? - the father was surprised.

- I see this by the reaction of people. They accept you. And at the same time no counteraction.

At that time, the governor of the region was weak even by the standards of the Kremlin Sergey Yastrebov - he occupied the lower lines of the Kremlin performance rating. Maybe, in part, therefore, the Party of the RPR-Parnas managed to hold a successful campaign.

He won. And he really worked for the benefit of the Yaroslavl region. The father turned out to be the only opposition deputy in the Legislative Assembly. He was able to reduce the expenses of the government to the fleet, he was able to remove from the post of vice-governor Alexander Senin due to theft at the public procurement of vital drugs for cancer patients.

Father was a truly popular person in Yaroslavl. After his murder, Yaroslavl was the first city in which a memorial plate was installed in his honor.

It would seem that his dear and close to him, Nizhny Novgorod decided on this only a few years later.

When his father won the elections in Yaroslavl, this became a shock for many. For some reason, many pushed into their heads that Nemtsov is a political corpse that his popularity has forever remained in the past. (...)

(...) The last time we came to Yaroslavl a week before the murder of our father.

I then called him:

- Mom and I want to go to Yaroslavl, take a walk. Can we stop in your apartment?

- And we went together! He suggested. - I will stay there the day, then I will leave - and you stay as much as you want.

We really spent the day perfectly. No one knew that we were seeing each other for the last time. (...)

*Published with abbreviations.

To be continued*.