About two dozen Western ambassadors paid their respects in Moscow on Tuesday at the site where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was killed, shot several times in the back in 2015, a few meters from the Kremlin, AFP reported.

“On the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, the US Ambassador to Russia, Lynn Tracy, honored the memory of this politician,” the US Embassy in Moscow reported on X (ex-Twitter).

“The legacy of Boris Nemtsov continues to inspire Russians and people around the world to fight corruption, freedom of speech and human rights,” the embassy added.

According to an AFP journalist, 15 to 20 other ambassadors, mainly from France, Spain and the Netherlands, were present at the ceremony, who laid flowers at the site of the opponent’s assassination under police supervision.

At the same time, dozens of Muscovites also brought flowers to this makeshift memorial, which has been maintained by volunteers since 2015, despite intimidation and the fact that it is regularly swept near City Hall.

On February 27, 2015, 55-year-old Boris Nemtsov, one of the main opponents of President Vladimir Putin, was shot four times while crossing a bridge near Red Square and the Kremlin.

His supporters have accused Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov of giving the order, which he denies. However, five Chechens were convicted of murder, although the perpetrator was never officially identified.

Boris Nemtsov was a prominent liberal politician in the 1990s and was once suggested to succeed Boris Yeltsin instead of Vladimir Putin.

In particular, he opposed the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the Kremlin’s military support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, while condemning the armed conflict led by Vladimir Putin.

He was also close to Alexei Navalny, who became Vladimir Putin’s main opponent in the mid-2010s before he died in custody on February 16 in the Arctic prison where he was being held.