Several hundred Russians, many carrying red carnations queued on Tuesday to pay their respects to Boris Nemtsov, the Kremlin critic whose murder last week showed the hazards of speaking out against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin’s aides deny any involvement in killing Nemtsov, who was shot in the back four times on Friday within sight of the Kremlin walls, but Nemtsov’s friends say he was the victim of an atmosphere of hatred whipped up against anyone who opposes the president.

In a gesture of conciliation from the Kremlin, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich joined mourners filing into the hall where Nemtsov's open casket was on display. Dvorkovich, from the Kremlin's increasingly sidelined liberal camp, was carrying a bunch of red flowers.