Kremlin ‘Protects’ Nemtsov’s Girlfriend

Boris Nemtsov was the closest thing Russian politics had to a sex symbol—he was fun, passionate, intelligent, and a notorious womanizer. For over 20 years, at every stage of his career—as governor of Nizhny Novgorod, as deputy prime minister, in parliament, as minister of energy, and in his last incarnation as a leading opposition member—the handsome and gentlemanly Nemtsov kept a string of beauties by his side and he doted on the women with attention and care. For their part, his mistresses and girlfriends adored Nemtsov for his generosity; most of them stayed connected with him even after the breakups. Five years ago, for his 50th jubilee, Nemtsov brought all his beloved women together at a big party, along with his wife and four children. Even his male associates admired the way he managed to stay friends with his exes.At least two of these exes showed up with flowers this past Sunday at the spot where Nemtsov was mowed down in a shocking assassination on Friday night. But the politician’s latest love, 23-year-old Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, could not bring flowers for Boris; official interrogators were allegedly “guarding” her in a private apartment in Moscow.

But Duritskaya managed to leave Moscow for Kiev on Tuesday morning. She did not attend Nemtsov’s funeral.Duritskaya had been walking with Nemtsov just steps from the Kremlin when unknown assailants murdered him in cold blood. The model complained to Russian reporters via phone and Skype that she was not being allowed to move around freely. In an interview with Rain TV, an official, state-owned station, on Monday, the model looked lost and confused. Her young, almost childish face seemed tense on the screen. She appeared to be weighing every word carefully.Duritskaya explained that last Friday at about 10 p.m., Nemtsov had picked her up at the Bosco café in downtown Moscow. Together they walked toward Nemtsov’s house, taking a route that led past the Kremlin wall, onto Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge and across the Moskva river. “Boris was killed on the bridge,” Duritskaya pronounced slowly in the interview on Skype.The model said she could not see who shot Nemtsov, as the shots came from behind her back. When Duritskaya turned around, she said, all she noticed was a light-colored vehicle. She repeated, “I cannot remember,” to several questions Rain TV asked her.Nemtsov’s lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, told Komsomolskaya Pravda reporters that in the last three days, Duritskaya had provided investigators with all the information they asked for, including all passwords to her email boxes and social networks. “We’ve just had a 15-hour-long investigative experiment with Anna’s cellphone,” Prokhorov explained.Meanwhile, Duritskaya, who seemed tired and depressed, refused to take a polygraph test on Monday. “Her psychosomatic condition is far from normal; considering the circumstances, I don’t think detector of lie test would be appropriate,” Prokhorov said.Earlier, Duritskaya had complained to Radio Echo of Moscow reporters that investigators were not allowing the model to travel back home to Ukraine to be with her mother, who was sick. That was before she left Moscow for Kiev on Tuesday.