Boris Nemtsov: How he was killed in the Kremlin, the man who could be today instead of Vladimir Putin

The opposition Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was tracked by an agent linked to a killing agent of politicians. According to a BBC investigation, he was traced for almost a year before he was killed.

Nemtsov was a strong rival of President Vladimir Putin. His murder in 2015 was the highest-profile political murder since Putin came to power. Authorities have denied any implications.

But the investigation reveals that he was followed back on at least 13 of his trips before his execution.

Nemtsov became known in the 1990s, originally as deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin. It was widely viewed as Yeltsn's successor.

But instead, Putin and Nemtsov launched a campaign exposing corruption in Moscow and denouncing the Russian attack on eastern Ukraine in 2014.

On February 27, 2015, he was killed very close to the Kremlin and a few days before conducting a war protest.

Five members of Chechnya were quickly arrested and sentenced for his murder. But the investigation did not clear the main question: Who ordered the murder, and why?

The BBC's investigation reveals that Nemtsov was persecuted by government agent Valery Sukharev. He was serving at the secret service agency at the time, FSB, which is known as the KGB's successor.

Sukharev's name relates to two assassination attempts by two opposition politicians. On one occasion, a politician was poisoned and nearly passed away.

The second case is that of Alexei Navajo, who was poisoned with Novichok in 2020. Even Navajo fortunately survived this poisonous attack.

The Kremlin says these new accusations are manufacturing.