Evidence in Boris Nemtsov’s murder indicate that those accused of the crime made phone contact three times before the murder, and destroyed their phones after it was committed.

A source close to the case told Rosbalt that after studying mobile phone calls made in the area surrounding Nemtsov’s house, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (Sledcom) were able to identify the phone numbers used by the accused. Up until the 14th of February 2015, the suspects were using two SIM cards which were bought and registered in their names.

The suspects only phoned each other with these numbers and did not use them to make other calls. This, according to investigators, shows that the suspects were following the politician before his death. The phones suddenly stopped working on the 14th of February 2015. During the following week, Sledcom detected no suspicious calls made near Nemtsov. It is believed that the attackers did not spy on the politician again until the 21st of February 2015. This may be due to statements given by Nemtsov to the Sobesednik newspaper. He said that he “could be killed in the near future” for his political statements.

According to case materials, once the spying resumed on the 21st of February 2015, the suspects used another two phones and SIM cards.

It may be worth noting that on the 20th of February 2015, Nemtsov, together with a number of opposition members held a press conference discussing the Spring anti-war march which was planned for the 1st of March.

According to Sledcom, on the 28th of February, these SIM cards were used by Anzor Gubashev and Beslan Shavanov. They phoned each other while following Nemtsov. The calls were shown to be made in the area of Malaya Ordynka Street, where the politician’s apartment is located. Later, two connections between these phones were detected near the Red Square at the same time that Nemtsov was meeting with Anna Duritskaya at the GUM Trading House.

At the time of the actual murder, the owners of the SIM cards contacted each other near the Large Moskvoretsky Bridge.

According to Sledcom, the phones and SIM cards were used by Shavanov and Gubashev on the 28th of February until 11 pm. One of these accused then gave the device to Zaur Dadayev who, according to investigators, is the one who actually pulled the trigger. After the murder, the phones and SIM cards disappeared.

During the investigation, the connections of personal phones of all of the accused were studied. This included those of Ruslan Geremeev, whose SIM card was registered in the name of his brother Arthur. Numerous connections between Geremeev and Dadayev, as well as Tamerlan Eskerhanov and Ruslan Muhudinov were made. Dadayev and Geremeev made several calls from the President Hotel, which they visited quite often. During a search of the Geremeev’s apartment in Veernaya Street, investigators found plastic passes from the rooms, which at various times were booked in the name of Senator Suleiman Geremeev.

The reasons for Dadayev’s and Geremeev’s visits to the President Hotel have not been investigated.

  Russia, Nemtsov

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