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| Thousands Honor Boris Nemtsov, Putin Critic Killed in Russia | Thousands Honor Boris Nemtsov, Putin Critic Killed in Russia |
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| MOSCOW — Carrying flowers and votive candles, thousands of Russians paid their final respects on Tuesday to the slain opposition leader Boris Y. Nemtsov, whose body lay at the Sakharov Center here. | |
| Diplomats showed up somberly bearing wreaths, political allies offered eulogies to Mr. Nemtsov, who was shot dead Friday evening in central Moscow, and all the while, his mother and children cried softly over his open coffin. | Diplomats showed up somberly bearing wreaths, political allies offered eulogies to Mr. Nemtsov, who was shot dead Friday evening in central Moscow, and all the while, his mother and children cried softly over his open coffin. |
| “Sleep in peace, our comrade, your work will be continued,” Gennady Gudkov, a former member of Parliament and a political ally of Mr. Nemtsov’s, said at the memorial at the Sakharov Center, a traditional site for opposition politics here. | “Sleep in peace, our comrade, your work will be continued,” Gennady Gudkov, a former member of Parliament and a political ally of Mr. Nemtsov’s, said at the memorial at the Sakharov Center, a traditional site for opposition politics here. |
| After the viewing, a funeral procession wound its way through Moscow to a cemetery that was a wintry scene of bare trees and snow, where the family made their last goodbyes and pallbearers lowered Mr. Nemtsov into the ground. | After the viewing, a funeral procession wound its way through Moscow to a cemetery that was a wintry scene of bare trees and snow, where the family made their last goodbyes and pallbearers lowered Mr. Nemtsov into the ground. |
| His killing was the highest-profile political assassination in Russia during the tenure of President Vladimir V. Putin, and the sad pageantry of the funeral offered a lens on the state of domestic politics. There was little evidence of a nation coming together in the face of tragedy. | His killing was the highest-profile political assassination in Russia during the tenure of President Vladimir V. Putin, and the sad pageantry of the funeral offered a lens on the state of domestic politics. There was little evidence of a nation coming together in the face of tragedy. |
| Senior Kremlin figures were absent, and Russia denied entry to two European politicians who had planned to attend, Bogdan Borusewicz, the speaker of the Polish Senate, and Sandra Kalniete, a member of the European Parliament from Latvia. | Senior Kremlin figures were absent, and Russia denied entry to two European politicians who had planned to attend, Bogdan Borusewicz, the speaker of the Polish Senate, and Sandra Kalniete, a member of the European Parliament from Latvia. |
| Moscow did not give explanations for refusing entry to the two officials, Reuters reported, but it said some Europeans were on a blacklist drawn up in retaliation for Western travel restrictions imposed on Russians close to the Kremlin. | Moscow did not give explanations for refusing entry to the two officials, Reuters reported, but it said some Europeans were on a blacklist drawn up in retaliation for Western travel restrictions imposed on Russians close to the Kremlin. |
| A lawyer for Aleksei A. Navalny, the most prominent leader of the beleaguered opposition, said a judge had denied Mr. Navalny’s petition to be released from jail to attend the funeral. Mr. Navalny is serving a two-week sentence for handing out leaflets on the subway. | A lawyer for Aleksei A. Navalny, the most prominent leader of the beleaguered opposition, said a judge had denied Mr. Navalny’s petition to be released from jail to attend the funeral. Mr. Navalny is serving a two-week sentence for handing out leaflets on the subway. |
| Also absent were the chess champion Garry Kasparov, a co-founder of the Solidarity Party with Mr. Nemtsov, who is living outside Russia and said he feared to return, and the prominent economist Sergei M. Guriev, also in exile. “I have all reasons to believe it is still dangerous for me to show up in Russia,” Mr. Guriyev told RBK newspaper. | Also absent were the chess champion Garry Kasparov, a co-founder of the Solidarity Party with Mr. Nemtsov, who is living outside Russia and said he feared to return, and the prominent economist Sergei M. Guriev, also in exile. “I have all reasons to believe it is still dangerous for me to show up in Russia,” Mr. Guriyev told RBK newspaper. |
| The highest-ranking member of the government to pay his respects was Arkady Dvorkovich, a deputy prime minister and protégé of Prime Minister Dmitry A. Medvedev, who did not appear, though Mr. Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, did. | The highest-ranking member of the government to pay his respects was Arkady Dvorkovich, a deputy prime minister and protégé of Prime Minister Dmitry A. Medvedev, who did not appear, though Mr. Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, did. |
| The Putin administration sent its representative in the Parliament, Garry V. Minks, a midlevel official, to represent Mr. Putin. | The Putin administration sent its representative in the Parliament, Garry V. Minks, a midlevel official, to represent Mr. Putin. |
| All 28 European Union ambassadors to Russia turned up en masse, bearing flowers and condolences, as did the American ambassador to Russia, John F. Tefft. “He will long be remembered in Russia and around the world as a true patriot of Russia,” Mr. Tefft said. | All 28 European Union ambassadors to Russia turned up en masse, bearing flowers and condolences, as did the American ambassador to Russia, John F. Tefft. “He will long be remembered in Russia and around the world as a true patriot of Russia,” Mr. Tefft said. |
| Among those attending was Naina Yeltsina, the widow of the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. A spokesman for Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, now in faltering health, told RBK that Mr. Gorbachev would send a wreath. | Among those attending was Naina Yeltsina, the widow of the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. A spokesman for Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, now in faltering health, told RBK that Mr. Gorbachev would send a wreath. |
| From the business elite, Mikhail Prokhorov, the oligarch who owns the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, paid his respects, as did his sister, Irina Prokhorova, who is active in Russian politics. “It’s a shame that in our country, a person has to die horribly for people to understand he was great,” Ms. Prokhorova said. The oil magnate Mikhail Fridman brought a wreath. | From the business elite, Mikhail Prokhorov, the oligarch who owns the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, paid his respects, as did his sister, Irina Prokhorova, who is active in Russian politics. “It’s a shame that in our country, a person has to die horribly for people to understand he was great,” Ms. Prokhorova said. The oil magnate Mikhail Fridman brought a wreath. |
| Aleksei L. Kudrin, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister, and a longtime ally of Mr. Putin while supporting liberal economic policies, lamented a state of affairs in Russia in which “in a debate with an opponent bullets serve as an argument.” | Aleksei L. Kudrin, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister, and a longtime ally of Mr. Putin while supporting liberal economic policies, lamented a state of affairs in Russia in which “in a debate with an opponent bullets serve as an argument.” |
| “This is a line we’ve crossed,” he said. | “This is a line we’ve crossed,” he said. |
| Receiving the well-wishers at the coffin was the hunched, tiny figure of Dina Eidman, Mr. Nemtsov’s mother, who had raised him as a single parent in poverty, watched him soar to the heights of the Russian government, and then in recent months reportedly told her son she feared Mr. Putin would kill him for his criticism of the war in Ukraine. | Receiving the well-wishers at the coffin was the hunched, tiny figure of Dina Eidman, Mr. Nemtsov’s mother, who had raised him as a single parent in poverty, watched him soar to the heights of the Russian government, and then in recent months reportedly told her son she feared Mr. Putin would kill him for his criticism of the war in Ukraine. |
| In an emotional speech at the Sakharov Center, Ilya Yashin, an ally of Mr. Nemtsov’s in organizing street protests, said of Mr. Nemtsov’s death — he was shot in the back while walking along a sidewalk — “this is how heroes leave us.” | In an emotional speech at the Sakharov Center, Ilya Yashin, an ally of Mr. Nemtsov’s in organizing street protests, said of Mr. Nemtsov’s death — he was shot in the back while walking along a sidewalk — “this is how heroes leave us.” |
| “He could have easily lived in comfort abroad, but he chose another path, and it cost his life,” Mr. Yashin said. “Borya left as a hero. This is how heroes leave us. Forgive us, Borya. Rest in peace.” | “He could have easily lived in comfort abroad, but he chose another path, and it cost his life,” Mr. Yashin said. “Borya left as a hero. This is how heroes leave us. Forgive us, Borya. Rest in peace.” |