Russia: The mastermind behind the murder of former Deputy Prime Minister Nemtsov has been found

The Russian Investigative Committee announced that it has identified the mastermind behind the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow last month.

This man is known as Ruslik.

Sputnik News quoted Kommersant as saying that the Investigative Committee has identified the person who provided weapons, transportation and money to the suspects accused of killing opposition leader and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov last month.

Russia finds mastermind behind murder of former Deputy Prime Minister Nemtsov. (Photo: Sputnik)

According to Kommersant, the mastermind, identified as Ruslik, gave a gun and a car to those involved in the assassination of Mr. Nemtsov. He also promised to pay each participant 5 million rubles (equivalent to 85,200 USD).

Ruslik's real name has not yet been released by the Investigative Committee, and he has not been listed as a wanted person.

So far, five suspects have been arrested, including Ramzan Bakhayev, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, brothers Shagit and Anzor Gubashev, and Zaur Dadayev. Suspect Dadayev named Ruslik to investigators.

Dadayev, a former commander of the Northern Battalion of the Chechen Interior Ministry, signed a confession, while the others denied it. However, Dadayev later retracted his statement after it emerged that he had confessed under duress.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Nemtsov was assassinated on February 27 in the center of Moscow, not far from the Kremlin, while returning home with his girlfriend after dinner. The above-mentioned murder suspects are said to have been monitoring the victim's living habits since early February 2015.

Russian media recently reported that Mr. Nemtsov may have been murdered because of his active support for the cartoons published in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

According to VOV