Honoring a dissident

In 1984, Congress voted to name a stretch of 16th Street immediately outside the then-Soviet Embassy “Andrei Sakharov Plaza,” in honor of the Soviet Union’s best-known dissident. The move infuriated Moscow, whose diplomats were confronted with Sakharov’s name every time they entered or left the building or received a piece of mail. But the tactic raised awareness of Sakharov’s courage and, according to his family, contributed to his release from internal exile two years later.

The District of Columbia Council is now to consider a new renaming that would be equally worthy. A measure would name a block of Wisconsin Avenue, outside the current Russian Embassy compound, “Boris Nemtsov Plaza,” in honor of the opposition leader who was gunned down in February 2015. Nemtsov dedicated his life to the cause of Russian democracy and had a large public following, making him a prime target for the regime of Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin, which has never identified or held responsible those who ordered his murder, deserves a constant reminder of his case.

On Feb. 27, 2015, Nemtsov was walking across a heavily guarded bridge within steps of the Kremlin when he was felled by a hail of bullets. Authorities later arrested five men of Chechen origin; at least one was closely connected to the republic’s notoriously brutal ruler, Ramzan Kadyrov. This past June they were convicted of killing Nemtsov in exchange for a payment of $254,000—but the sponsor of the hit was not identified. What is known is that Kadyrov, a fierce defender of Putin, was a target of an investigative report by Nemtsov—and that Putin awarded him a medal soon after the slaying.

It won’t be surprising if there is opposition from the Trump administration to the renaming; a similar measure was blocked in Congress by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. That gives council members the opportunity to demonstrate that street names should be under their authority—and that they are less intimidated by Putin than are their counterparts on Capitol Hill.