Opposition to issue Nemtsov’s report

MOSCOW – A colleague of slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov says a report he was compiling on Russia’s role in the eastern Ukraine conflict will be released in April. According to March 15 news reports, Ilya Yashin said most of the material gathered by Mr. Nemtsov has been retrieved, despite police searches of his apartment and offices and the seizure of his computer and documents after his death. Mr. Nemtsov’s allies say his February 27 shooting death near the Kremlin was linked to his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government. Mr. Yashin told the BBC a team of experts is working to complete the report that Nemtsov was working on when he was killed, and would make further reporting trips to complete the work. Several men from the Caucasus region have been arrested for the killing, prompting suggestions of an Islamist link to the attack. But one of the men charged over the murder has said he was forced into a confession. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by BBC, Moscow Times, Newsweek and Ukraine Today)