The 34-year-old Stanislav Markelov and 25-year-old Anastasia Baburova were shot on a sidewalk in central Moscow after leaving a news conference.
City courts spokeswoman Anna Usachyova says a court will rule Thursday on a request from investigators to sanction the arrest of two suspects.
She identified the suspects as Yevgenia Khasis and Nikita Tikhonov, both in their 20s.
No further information was immediately available about the suspects or the role they are accused of playing in the killings.
Russia has seen a string of killings of human rights workers and journalists in recent years. Few are ever solved.
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