The trial of five men charged with the murder of outspoken Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov has begun in a Moscow military court.
Nemtsov, a prominent opposition politician and former deputy prime minister, was shot dead near the Kremlin as he walked home late on February 27, 2015.
The suspects, all of them from the southern republic of Chechnya, are charged with carrying out a contract killing as part of an organized group.
The five defendants, Zaur Dadayev, Anzor and Shadid Gubashev, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, and Khamzat Bakhayev, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
They will be tried by jury.
Investigators say the alleged killers were promised 15 million rubles ($240,000) to murder Nemtsov.
Nemtsov's family and supporters have criticized the investigation, saying it has failed to identify and arrest the mastermind who ordered the killing.
