Vladimir Putin’s Russia is no longer just an authoritarian state; it is a dictatorship

The murder of Boris Nemtsov, even more than previous assassinations of journalists and other figures deemed unhelpful to Vladimir Putin’s regime, feels like a moment of grim significance. It represents a watershed, dividing Putin’s past from his future.

It is true, for sure, that Putin has rarely bothered to conceal his darker side. True, too, that too many people are prone to forgetting his actions – or rather the actions of people close to and supportive of Putin – in the Moscow apartment bombings which eased his path to power. Nevertheless, for a long time now, many people have preferred to turn away from the reality of Putin’s Russia.

Reality is a heavy puncher, however, and after the Crimea and the Ukraine comes this. The assassination of a prominent opposition figure just yards from the Kremlin’s front door. It is the action of a regime that feels it need no longer pretend.

Of course, Putin remains popular.