File Photo: Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. (Reuters)
The eldest daughter of slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov has left Russia, slamming the climate of hatred whipped up by pro-Kremlin propaganda in a letter published today.
"Russian propaganda kills," Zhanna Nemtsova, 31, wrote in a column published by Russia's liberal business daily Vedomosti.
"Many of the texts of Kremlin-controlled media recall the rhetoric of African propagandists," she said, stressing that state propaganda played a crucial role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
"Putin's information machine - similar to those in Nazi Germany and Rwanda - is using criminal methods of propaganda, and sowing hatred which generates violence and terror."
Nemtsova, herself a journalist with Russian business news TV channel RBK, warned that aggression towards dissenters fanned by state media could spin out of control and claim new victims in the future.
"People infected with hatred begin committing new crimes on their own initiative."
Nemtsova's lawyer said she had left Russia for Europe and had no immediate plans to go back.
"She's currently abroad," Vadim Prokhorov told AFP. "I think that she won't be back in the near future." He declined to be more specific about her whereabouts.
Prokhorov said that staying in Russia for the young woman was not safe, pointing to the harassment of opposition activists.
"Essentially an atmosphere of terror is being created," he added, stressing that those who masterminded her father's assassination were still at large.
In a terse message to AFP, Nemtsova said that her lawyer was right and declined further details.
"This is my private life," she said.
Boris Nemtsov, one of the most prominent critics of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead as he walked on a bridge near the Kremlin in late February.
Authorities have detained five Chechen men suspected of killing the 55-year-old.