Russian opposition leader shot dead

Boris Nemtsov, the former deputy prime minister of Russia turned opposition leader, was shot and killed in Moscow early Saturday morning, officials said.

The 55-year-old Nemtsov was a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticizing the government’s inefficiency, corruption, and policy on Ukraine.

The Russian Interior Ministry said that Nemtsov was shot four times from a passing car as he was walking across a bridge just outside the Kremlin.

Nemtsov, who served as deputy prime minister in the 1990s, was once seen as a potential successor to President Boris Yeltsin. After Putin was elected in 2000, Nemtsov became a sharp critic of Putin’s rule, organizing demonstrations, including one scheduled for Saturday to protest the war in Ukraine, and writing about government corruption.

According to a Kremlin spokesman, Putin has condemned the killing and will personally oversee the investigation. Many Putin opponents over the years have been assassinated under mysterious circumstances, and Putin’s involvement in the investigation means a cover-up is likely.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.