Roundup: Russian opposition politician shot dead in Moscow

Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was shot and killed near the city center at about midnight on Saturday, local law enforcement agency said.

"An unknown person killed Nemtsov with four shots using a handgun on the slope near St Basil's Cathedral in the Red Square," the TASS news agency quoted a law enforcement spokesman as saying.

Investigators have searched Nemtsov's apartment and examined documents and his computer after finishing the examination of the shooting scene.

Six shell casings have been found at the site, according to Interior Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Alexeyeva.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was "immediately informed of the murder" and "instructed the Investigative Committee, Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service to establish an investigative group."

"The head of state personally controls the investigation course," he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

"Now it is too early to make any conclusion on the death of Boris Nemtsov, but one can be 100 percent sure that this is a provocation," he added.

Peskov stressed that Nemtsov did not pose any political threat to the current Russian leadership and the president.

"If we compare the level of popularity, ratings of Putin, the government on the whole and so on, then in general Boris Nemtsov had been a bit more than an average citizen," he said.

In response to criticisms levelled at the Kremlin by the West, the spokesman said, "In this case, it does not matter at all what the West will think. It is important to wait for the results of the investigation and to join the condolences to Nemtsov expressed by the Russian president."

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich called the shooting "a cynical and atrocious crime."

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said the investigation should be conducted as soon as possible, warning that the shooting is being used by foes of Russia and may lead to far-reaching consequences.

"The murder should be considered as a brutal bloody provocation against our country and every Russian citizen," he said.

The incident came just one day before the opposition anti-crisis march "Spring," which has been canceled due to Nemtsov's death.

As an outspoken critic of Putin, Nemtsov once served as Russia's deputy prime minister. Endi