You're reading: Ukrainian woman who witnessed Nemtsov murder held in Russia

Ukrainian Anna Duritska, who was with Boris Nemtsov when he was killed in the street in Moscow on Feb. 27, has requested Russian authorities to let her return to Ukraine, but hasn't been allowed to do so for unclear reasons.

The woman has given testimony about the murder, but Russia’s Investigative Committee has said on March 1 that it will hold “additional investigative proceedings” involving Duritska.

Duritska, 23, was walking the bridge in central Moscow on the night of Feb. 27 with Nemtsov, and witnessed him being shot. Four bullets hit the Russian opposition leader in the head, heart, and lungs. Duritska wasn’t hurt.

A native of Bila Tserkva but living in Kyiv, Duritska was a model signed by the Kyiv-based agency Amodels. Its director Marianna Pogosova confirmed that Duritska has been working for the agency. The website lists her portfolio under the name “Anna D.” and one example of her work, a shooting for Ukrainian magazine Shopping Guide in 2011.



Photos from the portfolio of Anna Duritska at www.amodels-kiev.com.

Moscow lawyer Vadim Prokhorov who had worked for Nemtsov, said he was asked by the Nemtsov family to represent Duritska. According to him, the woman has addressed the Ukrainian consul in Moscow, asking to help her return to Kyiv.

According to Prokhorov, Duritska stays in an apartment of an ally of Nemtsov. She is not officially detained, but is not allowed to leave.

“She voluntarily participates in all the procedures of the investigation,” Prokhorov told RIA Novosti on March 1.

At the same time, he emphasized that authorities violate the rights of Duritska when they force her to stay in Russia with no legal basis.

According to Interfax Ukraine news agency, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a diplomatic note to the corresponding Russian ministry, asking to help Duritska get back to Ukraine. The Ukraine’s ministry spokesman said that Duritska wasn’t under arrest, but is guarded.

Ukrainian lawmaker Ostap Semerak said in a Facebook post on Feb. 28 that he was contacted by Duritska’s relatives.

“I don’t understand why a Ukrainian citizen who doesn’t have a procedural status (in the investigation) can’t return home,” Semerak said.

Interfax Ukraine quoted Duritska’s mother Inna Duritska as saying that her daughter had come to Moscow on the morning of Feb. 27, and had dinner with Nemtsov before the murder.

Although Nemtsov, 55, has never officially divorced his first wife, he separated from her long time ago, and was openly dating other women. He had four children with three women. In 2012 Russian media reported that he spent Christmas holidays in Dubai with a 25-year-old woman, and suggested she was a call girl. Nemtsov said the woman was his girlfriend of three years.