Russia was thrown into shock and mourning after Boris Nemtsov, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, was fatally shot near the Kremlin days before a major opposition rally.

Nemtsov was walking on Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge with a Ukrainian woman at around 11:40 p.m. Friday, according to Russian police.

An unidentified gunman in a white car fired Nemtsov four times in the back. The vehicle fled the scene after the shooting, the BBC reported. Nemtsov was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a recent interview, Nemtsov said he feared that Putin would send people to kill him because of his opposition to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

Putin condemned the murder of Nemtsov and ordered an investigation. The Russian president said that the murder could have been a contract killing or a “provocation” before the anti-government protest on Sunday.

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland also expressed shock and anger over the murder of Nemtsov in a tweet. U.S. President Barack Obama called it a “brutal murder”, urging the Russian government to launch a “prompt, impartial and transparent investigation”.

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