Vladimir Putin 'politically' to blame for my father's murder: Nemtsov's daughter

Moscow: Speaking clearly what his father's allies have been hinting at in whispers, daughter of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has asserted that President Vladimir Putin is to “politically” blame for the murder.

"My father fought with Putin, nobody else," Nemtsov's daughter told the BBC.

Speaking to the BBC, Zhanna Nemtsov said that her father's murder was “politically motivated” adding that he was a fierce critic of Putin.

30-year-old Zhanna, who is a stock market analyst and a TV presenter, added that investigators did not contact her as they did not want an independent investigations.

"He was the most prominent critic of Putin. He was the most powerful leader of the opposition of Russia," said Zhanna according to the BBC.

She added that after her father's death, the Russian opposition was left “beheaded and frightened”.

"Now we do not have any other figure so powerful... with so much expertise and experience to confront the officials," she told the BBC.

Nemtson, a former deputy prime minister and veteran liberal politician,was murdered on the night of Feb 27 when he was walking on the Great Moskvoretsky Bridge,  near the Kremlin with his girlfriend.

Nemtsov's murder has shaken Russia's opposition and many in  the camp suspect Kremlin's hand in his assassination in retaliation to his fierce criticism. However, those in Kremlin say the motive of the murder may be to tarnish Putin's image.

Putin has meanwhile condemned the murder and vowed to hunt down the murderers.

Meanwhile, one of the suspects, Zaur Dadaev, who had been an officer in the Chechen police troops, said that he was tortured and forced into confessing his role  in the murder. He said that he was tied up for two days with a bag on his head, reports said.

Earlier, even Ukrainian President hinted at Kremlin's possible role in his murder.

According to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Boris was about to reveal some sensitive information that would have damaged Russian interests, Ukraine's state-run Ukrinform news agency reported.

"Boris said that he was going to make public the strong evidence for participation of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. Someone was very afraid of that. Boris was not afraid, the executioners were afraid. They killed him."