Prague approves renaming of Russian embassy square after Boris Nemtsov

Prague, Czech Republic – On Monday, the municipal authorities of Prague officially okayed plans for the renaming the Russian embassy square after Boris Nemtsov, a Russian activist murdered in 2015 in the streets of Moscow.

According to the statement released by Prague councilors, who revealed the renaming idea earlier this month, “Prague will join several other metropolises that thus highlighted the plight of the political situation in Russia today”.

Several capital cities around the world, including Washington, Kyiv and Vilnius, took similar steps and renamed the square where the Russian embassies are located after the slain politician and activist.

“This is in line with the Czech tradition of respect for human rights”, Prague’s mayor Zdenek Hrib previously argued.

The official renaming ceremony of the Russian embassy square should take place on Thursday, on the fifth-year anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov, in presence of Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib and Nemtsov’s daughter, Zanna. According to the Czech News Agency, Russian Ambassador Alexander Zmejevsky hasn’t replied yet to the invitation to attend the ceremony on February 27.

A former deputy-Prime Minister in the late 1990s under President Boris Yeltsin, Nemtsov served several years in the Russian Parliament and became one of the leading critics of the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin.

Although five Chechen nationals were arrested and convicted of the murder, critics argue that those responsible for ordering the hit haven’t been found nor prosecuted.

In addition to the new Boris Nemtsov square, Prague authorities also approved plans to name a promenade in the nearby Stromovka park after Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist and human rights activist also murdered in 2006 upon her return to her Moscow apartment.

Main photo credit: Mashable/Evgeny Feldman