2 suspects detained in death of Boris Nemtsov

Two men have been detained in connection with last week’s killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the head of Russia’s federal security service said Saturday, according to the Washington Post.

Alexander Bortnikov said on Russian state television that the two men — Anzor Kubashev and Zaur Dadayev, who are residents of the Caucasus — were detained in the criminal case over Nemtsov’s killing but offered no details about their alleged involvement in the crime.

Nemtsov was walking on a bridge Feb. 27 near the Kremlin with a female companion when he was shot by an unidentified gunman, whom surveillance footage showed disappearing in a car. Russian news service Interfax cited an unidentified source saying that the car was identified quickly and that “biological materials” in it helped lead investigators to the suspects.

Russia’s federal security service gave no clue as to the motive for the attack on Nemtsov. But it is not the first time high-profile assassinations of Kremlin critics have resulted in the detention of suspects from the Caucasus.

Nemtsov’s allies expressed reserved hope that the detentions would lead to positive developments in the case. “We hope that they detained those who really are related to the murder, that it is not a mistake,” said Ilya Yashin, one of Nemtsov’s closest allies in the opposition, told Interfax. But he added that it is “difficult to judge” the actions of law enforcement, as Nemtsov’s supporters were not being specially informed about the progress of the investigation.