MOSCOW: Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down while walking in sight of the Kremlin late Friday, prompting an international chorus of condemnation.
The murder of the 55-year-old politician, an outspoken critic of Russia's involvement in Ukraine, came ahead of a major opposition rally he was set to lead this weekend and sent shock waves across the country.
US President Barack Obama led condemnation of the "brutal" and "vicious murder" of Nemtsov, whom he had met on a visit to Moscow, and called on Russia to conduct an impartial probe of the killing.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader had taken the investigation "under personal control".
The murder "bears the hallmarks of a contract killing," he said on radio, describing the killing as a provocation.
Police and investigators said Nemtsov was shot by unidentified assailants as he was walking with a woman along a bridge just metres (yards) from the Kremlin.
"According to preliminary information, an unidentified person shot at Boris Nemtsov no fewer than 7-8 times from a car as he was walking along the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge," investigators said in a statement.
Interior ministry spokeswoman Yelena Alekseyeva said Nemtsov was hit by four bullets.
An AFP reporter saw a blood stain on the pavement on the side of the bridge near the red walls of the Kremlin, with roses laid by a police barrier at the scene.
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