Sen. Marco Rubio on Monday introduced legislation that would name the street in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., after a Russian opposition leader who was killed near the Kremlin two years ago.
Boris Nemtsov Plaza would honor the memory of the prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin who was shot to death on "a Moscow bridge within view of the Kremlin," Rubio said in a statement on his website.
The Florida Republican noted that "no one has been held accountable" for Nemtsov's death.
"He was just one of Vladimir Putin’s critics who have wound up dead or hospitalized as the regime cracks down on any opposition and rules Russia with an iron fist," Rubio said. "Putin may hope Nemtsov’s murder deters dissent, but we must continue to support Russia’s pro-democracy movement so that does not happen."
The naming of the street for Nemtsov would serve as a permanent reminder to Putin's regime that the voices of dissent will live on, he said. It also intends to raise awareness among the American public about Putin's abuses.
Rubio has been a longtime Putin critic, saying earlier this month that President Donald Trump was wrong to compare the United States to Russia in his pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.
"When has a Democratic political activists been poisoned by the GOP, or vice versa? We are not the same as #Putin," Rubio tweeted.
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