SERB also raided a improvised memorial to the former deputy prime minister and fierce Kremlin critic on the bridge a month after his murder. Beketov, who also goes by the name Gosha Tarasevich, argued at the time that the movement seeks to “always fight traitors to Russia in all of its manifestations.”
Moscow authorities have refused calls for a memorial site to honor Nemtsov, citing regulations which require 10 years to pass after a person’s death. Another rule allows for a memorial plaque to be installed after a period of two years at the person’s workplace.
The Moscow Mayor’s Office reportedly rejected a September 2016 petition with 30,000 signatures asking for a small plaque commemorating Nemtsov to be erected on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge. Nemtsov was gunned down on Feb. 27, 2015, while walking home in the evening across the bridge.