Russia’s Investigative Committee is allegedly pursuing several lines of inquiry following the murder of Boris Nemtsov, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics.<br /><br /> The 56-year-old former deputy prime minister is said to have been shot four times while walking with a woman near the Kremlin in Moscow. <br /><br /> Some of Russia’s top law enforcement chiefs are personally overseeing the investigation, Russian news agencies report.<br /><br /> “Putin noted that this cruel murder has all the makings of a contract hit and is extremely provocative,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks broadcast by national media outlets.<br /><br /> The killing came just over a day before an anti-Kremlin ‘Spring March’ rally, which Nemtsov had helped to organise.<br /><br /> One of his final tweets was about the event. It read:<br />“If you support stopping Russia’s war with Ukraine, if you support stopping Putin’s aggression, come to the Spring March in Mayino on 1 March.”<br /><br /> Several lines of investigation<br /><br /> Interfax news agency
