On Monday, November 9, the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom was established in Germany. It was founded by Zhanna Nemtsova, the oldest daughter of the slain member of the opposition Boris Nemtsov.
The executive director is Olga Shorina — a member of the executive committee of the PARNAS party. “Olga was my father’s right hand. She supports his ideas and is well-read and creative,” Zhanna Nemtsova said.
“The idea behind the foundation is to continue pursuing the goals of my father, in accordance with Russian and German laws,” Zhanna Nemtsova further explained. She hopes that the Foundation’s effort will bring Russia closer and sooner to freedom.
Previously, Zhanna had said that the Foundation would support the project’s dedication to developing Russia as ‘civilized and prosperous’ state, and would also play a memorial function.
Earlier this year, Zhanna Nemtsova received the Solidarity Prize in Poland that would be partly spent on the activities of the Foundation.
Boris Nemtsov became one of the first pro-democracy politicians in modern Russia. In November of 1991 the President of Russia appointed him as the governor of Nizhegorodskiy region. At the time, he was known as “Boris Yeltsin’s favorite.” He was young and was a big hope for many voters. Nemtsov was the first Vice-Chairman of the government when Chernomyrdin was the Prime Minister. At the end of 1990 he founded a liberal movement known as Molodaya Rossiya [Young Russia], then was a co-founder of Pravoe Delo and Soyuz Pravyh Sil party (SPS or Union of Rightist Forces). Other titles of Nemtsov included a member of the Russian parliament, leader of SPS fraction, vice-chairman of the parliament, senator, and member of Russian Security Council.
Later, having been a committed opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov admitted, that he couldn’t imagine himself being politically inactive. In 2009, he ran for Mayor in Sochi but lost to a representative from the ruling party. In 2013, he ran for a regional parliament and won becoming a member of Yaroslavl regional parliament.
Boris Nemtsov, together with Vladimir Milov and later with Leonid Martynyuk, wrote a number of independent expert reports such as “Luzhkov. Results,” “Putin and the crisis,” “Putin and Gazprom,” “Putin. Results,” “Putin’s Olympic Games,” “Life of a Galley Slave.” Nemtsov’s last report “Putin. War” was finished by his co-authors posthumously. The team of authors included Ilya Yashin, Olga Shorina, Sergei Aleksashenko, Leonid Martynyuk, Ekaterina Vinokurova, Aider Muzhdabaev, Oleg Kashin and Alfred Koch.
Some believe Putin ordered to kill him for his frequent speeches in the West, where he was one of the most renowned experts and whose opinion was highly respected by many governments. He was consistently going against Putin’s regime, supporting and representing the pro-democracy movement in Russia. His death has become a great loss for everyone, who cares about our country.
Free Russia Foundation expresses its full support for Boris Nemtsov’s Foundation for Freedom. It is named after our colleague and a real patriot of Russia. We respect and support the people who established this Foundation. Let’s make history together! Let’s make Russia free and democratic!