Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition politician highly critical of President Vladimir Putin often sounded like an agent of Washington. He was shot and killed Friday night on a street near the Red Square.
Remembering the Magnitsky affair that resulted in sanctions imposed on Russians as a result of the US Congress over-reacting to a jail death in Russia, Nemtsov’s death will likely be blamed on Putin. The Western media will repeat endlessly, with no evidence, that Putin had his critic killed.
I can tell you one thing, and that is that Putin is much too smart to play into Washington’s hands in this way. Moreover, Nemtsov, although a loud mouth, had no impact on Putin’s 85 percent approval rating. Nemtsov’s support resided in the Washington-funded NGOs in Russia. If the CIA assassinated Nemtsov, they killed their own asset.
It remains to be seen if the propaganda gains justify the CIA’s loss of a Putin critic.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official position of Sputnik.