Anna Politkovskaya

Biography

Anna Politkovskaya was born on August 30, 1958, in New York City, where her parents were Soviet diplomats. She returned to the Soviet Union, built a journalism career, and became a special correspondent for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta — one of the last genuinely independent outlets in Putin's Russia. She made dozens of trips to Chechnya throughout both wars, documenting Russian atrocities, filtration camps, torture, and the zachistka sweep operations that disappeared thousands of civilians. Her 2001 book A Dirty War and her subsequent reporting made her the most prominent voice exposing what Russia was doing in Chechnya. The price was constant. She survived poisoning on a flight to Beslan in 2004 — the tea she was served caused acute kidney failure that she barely survived. Russian officials threatened her repeatedly. She was told she would be killed. On October 7, 2006 — Vladimir Putin's birthday — she was shot four times in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building. Three men were eventually convicted of the murder, but Russian courts have never convicted anyone for ordering it. Her death sent a message to every journalist in Russia: document the Chechen wars and die.

Key Battles