Assassination: Russian opposition leader shot dead in "contract killing".

One of Russia’s most prominent political leaders has been assassinated in Moscow.

Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov is shot dead in central Moscow, in what president Vladimir Putin says looks like a “contract killing”.

Mr Nemtsov, 55, was shot several times as he walked along the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge, not far from the Kremlin.

The attacker, who has not been identified, was in a white car that sped off after the attack.

Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed the death, saying it had opened a criminal probe.

“According to preliminary information, an unidentified person shot at Boris Nemtsov no fewer than seven to eight times from a car as he was walking along the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky bridge,” investigators said in a statement.

The committee, which reports directly to Mr Putin, said “experienced” investigators had been put on the case.

Mr Nemtov had been due to take part on Sunday in the first big opposition protest in months in the Russian capital.

Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president believed the shooting looked like a “contract killing” and could also be a “provocation” ahead of the rally.

He said Mr Putin had been quickly informed of the killing and that the president had expressed his condolences and ordered the security agencies to investigate.

Mr Nemtsov launched his political career as the governor of Nizhny Novgorod region in central Russia and became a vice prime minister in the late 1990s under the presidency of Boris Yeltsin.

After leaving parliament in 2003, he helped establish and led several opposition parties and groups.

This story was originally published on ABC and has been republished with full permission.