Thousands in Moscow Chant ‘Russia Without Putin’

Whoever did the dirty work, he implied, would have done so only with President Vladimir Putin's blessing.

"Who gave the order to kill Nemtsov? Who knows,” Kasparov said. ”But this was done not far from the Kremlin and it would have been done by Putin's cronies. Who ordered it? I don't care. Putin must be held responsible for the murder of Boris."

Kasparov’s remark gets to the heart of the larger significance of Nemtsov’s killing. We don't yet know who ordered and carried out the hit or why. But the specifics don't matter as much as the signal it sends -- and what it portends.

"The message is this," Kasparov said. "We have no allergy to blood and anyone can be killed."

Putin's 'Hybrid' State Terror

http://www.rferl.org/content/nemtsov-analysis/26874842.html