Russia could be headed towards bloody revolution, says opposition leader

Boris Nemtsov tells a Toronto audience violence might be the only way to loosen Vladimir Putin’s grip on power

Speaking at a University of Toronto conference via computer link yesterday, a Russian opposition leader warned that the Kremlin is silencing all dissent in the country and that there’s a danger the Russian people will turn to violence. Boris Nemtsov made the comments after being arrested twice in the past three weeks for staging pro-democracy rallies in Moscow. Nemtsov is a potential candidate in the 2012 national election, but it’s not a process he, or many other observers, have much faith in. “All the decisions have already been made in the Kremlin,” he said, “who will be elected, who will be appointed.”