Prague has renamed a square in front of its Russian Embassy after Boris Nemtsov, honouring the murdered Russian opposition leader.

The change did not immediately draw an angry response from Moscow, as it did with some other recent moves in the Czech capital, such as a plan to remove the statue of a Second World War Soviet commander, Marshall Ivan Stepanovic Konev.

EU flags and a poster depicting Nemtsov are held aloft near the new sign
EU flags and a poster depicting Nemtsov are held aloft near the new sign (AP/Petr David Josek)

Nemtsov was an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and was murdered near the Kremlin five years ago.

Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib unveiled the new street sign a few days after the municipality approved the modification.

“I understand the new name is an expression of solidarity with the opposition in Russia and the human rights movement,” Mr Hrib said.

Nemtsov’s daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, thanked Prague during the ceremony.

Prague’s mayor Zdenek Hrib, left, and Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of Russian opposition Boris Nemtsov
Prague’s mayor Zdenek Hrib, left, and Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of Russian opposition Boris Nemtsov (AP/Petr David Josek)

“Boris Nemtsov was a representative of humanism in Russian politics,” Ms Nemtsova said. “We had only few of them in history, unlike many tyrants,” she said through a translator.

Washington DC and Lithuania’s capital city of Vilnius have also honoured Nemtsov in the same way in recent years.