WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., spoke from the Senate floor in honor of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader who was assassinated within sight of the Moscow Kremlin on February 27, 2015. Nemtsov was a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin’s government. Last week, Wicker joined a resolution calling upon the Russian government to bring Nemtsov’s assassins to justice.

“Boris Nemtsov was a man who walked the walk,” Wicker said. “When others were silent out of fear or complicity, he stood up for a future where the Russian people need not risk jail or worse for simply wanting a say in how their country is run.”

Wicker continued, “As to the Nemtsov assassination, four years later justice has yet to be served. It appears that President Putin and his cronies have little interest in uncovering and punishing the masterminds behind Russia’s highest profile killing in recent memory.”

Last year, Wicker supported efforts to rename the street outside the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., in honor of Nemtsov. On February 27, 2018, the D.C. city government marked the third anniversary of Nemtsov’s death by renaming the block Boris Nemtsov Plaza. Wicker spoke at the dedication along with other members of Congress, D.C. Council members, and Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-murza, who was a good friend of Nemtsov.