Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov invites daughter of slain Boris Nemtsov for tea and condolences

Ramzan Kadryov, the ruler of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, has invited the daughter of Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition leader who was shot and killed in Moscow earlier this year, to come visit him for tea in Grozny. 

Zhanna Nemtsova recently complained that investigators working her father's murder case are making a serious mistake by not questioning Kadyrov, who she says has vital information about the killers. In an interview with a radio station today, Kadyrov reached out to Nemtsova, telling her to look for her father's murderers in her own circle, rather than demand that federal investigators call him in for questioning.

Kadyrov added that he won't hesitate to testify before investigators, if summoned by police. He also repeated that he does not believe that suspect Zaur Dadaev, a decorated former soldier in Chechnya, had any role in Nemtsov's murder, and he considers the charges against Dadaev to be unfounded.

“Let her look among her own circle to find the ones who organized this murder, rather than accuse me,” Kadyrov said. “If she wants to meet with me, then by all means. She's invited to come visit and have tea with me. I offer my condolences that her father was murdered. My father was killed, too. That's life. So it goes.”

Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, was shot and killed on February 27 in the center of Moscow, not far from the Kremlin. Nemtsov was 55 years old. Police have arrested five individuals for Nemtsov’s murder—all men from the Russian North Caucasus. After initially confessing to roles in the murder, nearly all suspects have since rescinded their original testimonies, saying they were given under police pressure.

Zhanna Nemtsova has filed a complaint in the European Human Rights Court against Russian investigators working on her father's murder case.