Model Dating Boris Nemtsov: Girlfriend Describes What She Saw When Putin Critic Was Gunned Down
Boris Nemtsov had been dating the 23-year-old Ukrainian model for several years.
— -- The 23-year-old model who was with Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov when he was assassinated told a Russian TV channel that she didn't see the shooter.
In a Skype interview with Dozhd TV, Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya added that "nothing suspicious happened" before the shooting.
Nemtsov, who was a critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down while walking across a bridge near the Kremlin Friday night. The couple had been heading back to Nemtsov's apartment after having dinner.
According to Russian news reports, a car pulled up and someone fired "at least seven or eight shots" before fleeing the scene.
"I did not see a man," Duritskaya told Dozhd TV. "When I turned around I saw a light colored car, but I did not notice the brand of the car or the license plates of the car which was leaving."
Duritskaya said she went to a snowplow driver to ask for the police's phone number after the shooting.
Duritskaya rejected a suggestion that Nemtsov's relationship with her could have anything to do with the assassination and said neither of them had received any recent threats.
The couple had reportedly been dating for several years.
No arrests have been made and the reason for the shooting remains unknown. Investigators said they were looking into several possible motives and have offered 3 million rubles -- nearly $50,000 -- for information.
Nemtsov was a deputy prime minister under former President Boris Yeltsin during the 1990s, but fell out with the Russian president and formed Russia's People's Freedom Party.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin called the shooting a provocation.
"Putin noted that this cruel murder has every sign of being a contract one which has solely provocative nature," Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency.