Today marks 10 years since that terrible evening in February, when Boris Nemtsov’s life was cut short on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge.

10 years is a whole epoch, but the memory of him lives on, and with each passing year one feels more and more acutely what Russia could have been if it had not been for that fatal shot.

A man who wasn’t afraid to dream

Boris Nemtsov is not just a politician. He was a personality that attracted with his energy, charisma, indomitable optimism. He was the kind of person who could set hearts on fire and lead. A physicist by training, he plunged headlong into politics because he believed that Russia deserved a better future.

From science to politics: the path of a reformer

His path is a story of meteoric rise and uncompromising struggle. Young and talented, he quickly won people’s trust. In the 90s, when he was governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region, he showed what real reforms are and how life can be changed for the better. And then there was the Kremlin, the post of Deputy Prime Minister, hopes for the country’s renewal….

An inconvenient truth teller

But Nemtsov was not a man of the system. He was not afraid to speak the truth, however bitter it might be. With Putin’s arrival, he became one of the regime’s fiercest critics, sparing neither himself nor his opponents. He organised protests and wrote exposé reports, fearing neither threats nor pressure.

A symbol of unyielding will

He was uncomfortable, indomitable, unruly. He did not compromise his conscience, did not betray his ideals. And it was for this that he was loved and respected. Even those who did not share his views recognised his honesty and integrity.

The Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge: an unhealing wound

27 February 2015 is a black date in the history of Russia. Nemtsov’s assassination was a shock, a tragedy, an open wound. He is gone, but there are still questions to which there are still no answers. Who ordered this crime? Why were they so afraid of him?

A hope that doesn’t die

Today, when we remember Boris Nemtsov, we remember not only his tragic death, but also his dream of a free, democratic Russia. A dream that lives on in the hearts of millions of people. And as long as this dream is alive, there is hope that everything will change.

Source: sakharov.live