Anna Politkovskaya Lurk. Biography of Anna Politkovskaya

Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya
Russian journalist and human rights activist
Birth name: Anna Stepanovna Mazepa
Date of birth: August 30, 1958
Place of birth: New York
Date of death: October 7, 2006
Place of death: Moscow

Presented here biography of Anna Politkovskaya- an outstanding personality in every sense. Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya for many years she played the role not only of a journalist, but also of a human rights activist who opposed the creation Anna Politkovskaya and his services in Chechnya are essentially a state within a state, not subordinate to the will of the Kremlin and carrying out total purges and murders of any opponents not only in the territory of mountain villages, but also in the very center of Moscow (for example, one can recall the shooting by specially seconded Chechen policemen opponent of the current ruler of Chechnya not far from the Kremlin, at the very beginning of Leninsky Prospekt in broad daylight, and the death of Yuri Budanov also does not seem accidental).

Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya(née Mazepa; August 30, 1958, New York - October 7, 2006, Moscow) - Russian journalist and human rights activist. She paid special attention to the conflict in Chechnya.
Murder of Anna Politkovskaya remained unsolved.

Childhood, education, personal life of Anna Politkovskaya

She was born in New York, where her parents were on diplomatic work.
Father, Stepan Fedorovich Mazepa, was born in the village of Kostobobrovo, Semenovsky district, Chernigov region, and worked as an employee of the Ukrainian SSR mission to the UN.

In 1980 she graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov. While studying at Moscow State University Anna Politkovskaya met and married Alexander Politkovsky, who studied at the same faculty, but was 5 years older than her.

From this marriage Politkovsky have two children, Ilya and Vera. However, according to Alexander himself, in 2000 the marriage actually broke up, although they were not officially divorced. The spouses had polar opposite views on the profession. Politkovsky, being a reporter, spoke about Anna’s activities: “This is not journalism... It’s either writing or something else...”.
Alexander Politkovsky's career developed rapidly during perestroika, but began to decline in the post-perestroika period, while Anna Politkovskaya gradually gained fame thanks to her journalistic materials on sensitive topics.

From an interview with a spouse Anna Politkovskaya:
I lived with her for 21 years. She was a complex person. And this complexity is localized in her articles. But here we must separate: the relationship between husband and wife and raising children is one thing, and professional qualities are another matter. Anna helped me become a journalist, and I helped her in some ways. She didn't have much luck until 1996. But from that moment on, she became an independent journalist. And then she achieved everything herself.

In the early 1990s Politkovskaya received US citizenship according to the principle of jus soli, while remaining a citizen of Russia.

Journalistic activities of Anna Politkovskaya

In 1982-1993 Anna Politkovskaya worked for the newspapers Izvestia and Vozdushny Transport, the creative association ESCART, and the publishing house Paritet. Until 1994, she was a columnist for the weekly Megapolis Express at a time when the publication had not yet become a tabloid. In 1994-1999 - columnist, editor of the emergency department of the Obshchaya Gazeta.

Since 1999 Anna Politkovskaya- columnist for Novaya Gazeta. Politkovskaya repeatedly traveled to combat areas. For a series of reports from Chechnya in January 2000 Anna Politkovskaya awarded the “Golden Pen of Russia” prize.
She was awarded: the prize of the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation “A good deed - a good heart”, the prize of the Union of Journalists for materials on the fight against corruption, the diploma “Golden Gong 2000” for a series of materials about Chechnya.

Author of the documentary books “Journey to Hell. Chechen Diary”, “The Second Chechen”, as well as Putin’s Russia (“Putin’s Russia”), published in the UK. Her last publication in Novaya Gazeta - “Punitive Conspiracy” - was devoted to the composition and activities of Chechen detachments fighting on the side of the federal forces. In September-early October 2006 Anna Politkovskaya significantly intensified its analytical and journalistic activities in light of the approaching parliamentary elections of 2007 and presidential elections of 2008.

Human rights activities of Anna Politkovskaya

Besides journalism, Anna Politkovskaya She was engaged in human rights activities, helped the mothers of dead soldiers to defend their rights in the courts, conducted investigations into corruption in the Ministry of Defense, the command of the United Group of Federal Forces in Chechnya, and helped victims of Nord-Ost.

Anna Politkovskaya sharply and emotionally criticized the current government:
“Why did I dislike Putin? That’s why I disliked him. For simplicity, which is worse than theft. For cynicism. For racism. For endless war. For lies. For gas in Nord-Ost. For the corpses of innocent victims that accompany all of him first term. Corpses that might not have existed"
November 27, 2000 Anna Politkovskaya When asked by a reader of Novaya Gazeta why she did not mention the Russian genocide in Chechnya in any article, she answered the following:

Dear Kirill! In 1991-1994, I did not have the physical opportunity to study the problem of genocide of the Russian people in Chechnya. However, the genocide of the Chechens of the current period is obvious. And it is carried out by some of the military and the Chechens themselves. Many times I tried to explain to myself many of the facts that I witnessed as an unfortunate incident or the stupidity of the perpetrator, but each time I was defeated: in relation to the Chechens in Russia, there is still a system in place to exterminate them. It is simply impossible to explain what is happening in any other way. Alas.

* February 2001 - Anna Politkovskaya was detained in the village of Khotuni on the territory of Chechnya and expelled for staying without accreditation in the zone of the anti-terrorist operation. Anna Politkovskaya reported on kidnappings, extortion by persons posing as FSB officers, as well as a filtration camp for Chechens at the 45th Airborne Regiment, where, according to her information, torture was practiced. The military rejected these claims. There is information that in February 2001, FSB officers accused Politkovskaya of espionage for the Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev and was kept in a pit for three days without food or water.
* September 2001 - Anna Politkovskaya in her publication “Disappearing People,” she accused police officers assigned to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs of killing civilians. In March 2005, one of the “heroes” of the publication was sentenced to 11 years.
* February 2002 - Anna Politkovskaya disappeared during a business trip to Chechnya and reappeared a few days later in Nazran, Ingushetia, claiming that she had to hide from the FSB, which wanted to interfere with her investigation into the killings of civilians.
* October 2002 Anna Politkovskaya participated in negotiations with Chechen terrorists who took hostages in the theater center on Dubrovka, carried water to the hostages.

* Since 2003, Anna Politkovskaya has accused Ramzan Kadyrov and his subordinates of kidnappings, extortion and other crimes.
* September 2, 2004 - Anna Politkovskaya During the hostage crisis at a Beslan school, she flew to Beslan, hoping to act as a mediator in the negotiations, but on the plane, after drinking tea, she lost consciousness 10 minutes later and was hospitalized in Rostov-on-Don in serious condition with a diagnosis of “poisoning by unknown toxins.” According to Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, analyzes taken from Anna Politkovskaya immediately upon reaching the hospital, they were destroyed. U Politkovskaya The liver, kidneys and endocrine system were seriously damaged.

Anna Politkovskaya believed that FSB officers were trying to poison her. According to Politkovskaya, she was “removed from the field” to prevent her from carrying out her plan to resolve the situation. She claimed that the 12th KGB laboratory, which was engaged in the production of poisons, had resumed work in Russia (this laboratory is accused of poisoning Anna Politkovskaya and former BBC correspondent in Moscow Martin Sixsmith, citing an FSB source). At the airline whose plane I was flying on Anna Politkovskaya, stated: “ Politkovskaya There was no way to poison someone using tea - it was poured to all passengers from the same teapot. There were no complaints from other passengers. And Anna, as the flight attendant on that flight told us, soon after lunch began to feel sick and lost consciousness. An airline representative accompanied her to the hospital. There they told him that it was most likely not poisoning, but some kind of viral infection.”

Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna

Anna Politkovskaya is a Russian journalist and human rights activist. She worked a lot in the North Caucasus. Killed in 2006. Until 2016, the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya remained unsolved, although its alleged perpetrators were convicted in 2014.

Biography

Born on August 30, 1958 in New York into a family of Soviet diplomats of Ukrainian origin. (According to other sources, Anna Politkovskaya was born in Ukraine in the Chernigov region). Anna Politkovskaya's maiden name is Mazepa. In 1980 she graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Lomonosov Moscow State University.

In 1982-1993 she worked in the newspapers Izvestia and Air Transport, in the creative association ESCART, the publishing house Paritet, and as a columnist for the Megapolis Express newspaper.

In 1994-1999, Anna Politkovskaya was the editor of the emergency department of the Obshchaya Gazeta. Since June 1999 - columnist for Novaya Gazeta.

Since July 1999, Politkovskaya, as a journalist, has traveled many times to war zones and refugee camps in Dagestan, and then to Ingushetia and Chechnya.

In addition to her main work, Anna Politkovskaya was also involved in human rights activities: she helped the mothers of dead soldiers in court, conducted an investigation into corruption in the Ministry of Defense and the command of the United Groups of Federal Forces in Chechnya. In December 1999, Anna Politkovskaya organized the evacuation of 89 residents of a Grozny nursing home, who, through her efforts, were resettled in Russia. However, in the summer of 2000, the old people (22 people) were returned to Grozny, “in order to demonstrate to the whole world that life in Grozny is getting better.” People found themselves without water, medicine, food and clothing. In August 2000, on the initiative of Anna Politkovskaya, Novaya Gazeta held a charity event “Grozny. Nursing Home” - five and a half tons of cargo and about five thousand dollars were collected.

In October 2002, A. Politkovskaya participated in negotiations with Chechen militants from the Riyadh us-Salihyin brigade, who seized the Dubrovka Theater Center in Moscow. The terrorists named her among the people with whom they could negotiate. On October 25, 2002, Politkovskaya arrived at the operational headquarters for the release of the hostages and communicated with the militants by telephone, and then, together with Dr. Leonid Roshal, visited the building of the Theater Center, giving drinking water to the hostages.

In February 2001, FSB officers accused Politkovskaya of spying for the Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev and kept her in a hole for three days without food or water.

In September 2001, Anna Politkovskaya published an article in Novaya Gazeta, “Disappearing People,” telling about the fate of the Chechen Zelimkhan Murdalov, who was arrested in Chechnya by the Khanty-Mansiysk riot police in early 2001, and then disappeared without a trace. After that, she began to receive threatening letters by e-mail from a certain “cadet” - an employee of the Khanty-Mansiysk riot police Sergei Lapin, who directly detained and interrogated Murdalov. Lapin was charged under the article “causing grievous bodily harm, abuse of power and forgery,” but they were later dropped.

On September 1, 2004, the first day of the Beslan hostage crisis, Politkovskaya, while on a plane flying to North Ossetia, suffered serious poisoning after drinking a mug of tea. This incident was regarded by the journalist’s colleagues, including in Beslan, as a planned attempt on her life. She flew to Beslan, having the opportunity to organize negotiations between Aslan Maskhadov and Akhmed Zakayev with the terrorists who seized the building of school No. 1. From the plane, Politkovskaya was hospitalized in an unconscious state at the Rostov Regional Hospital.

Anna Politkovskaya appeared on the list of “enemies of the Russian people and Russian statehood,” the existence of which was announced by LDPR deputy Nikolai Kuryanovich in March 2006.

On October 7, 2006, Anna Politkovskaya died at the hands of a hired killer in Moscow at the entrance of the house where she lived.

A. Politkovskaya's last publication in Novaya Gazeta - "Punitive Conspiracy" - was devoted to the composition and activities of Chechen detachments fighting on the side of the federal forces. Her article about torture in Chechnya was supposed to appear in the next issue of Novaya Gazeta. The material discussed the involvement of Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov in kidnappings.

Anna Politkovskaya gave her last interview to her own correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" an hour and a half before her tragic death. It was called “Kadyrov will not be president of Chechnya.”

During the first trial, lasting from October 15, 2008 to February 19, 2009 the jury found acquittal , but the verdict was overturned and the case was sent for new consideration.

The second trial in the case began in July 2013, after the sentencing in October 2012 (11 years in prison) to former policeman Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who confessed his involvement in the murder . After Pavlyuchenkov concluded a deal with the investigation, he ceased to be considered the organizer of the crime.

On May 20, 2014, a jury found all five defendants guilty in the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. They did not admit their guilt. Details of the progress of the investigation and trials can be found in the information “The Murder of Anna Politkovskaya”.

On June 9, 2014, the Moscow City Court rendered a verdict in the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. Defendants Lom-Ali Gaitukaev and Rustam Makhmudov were sentenced to life imprisonment. Makhmudov's brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail received 12 and 14 years in prison, respectively, and Khadzhikurbanov was sentenced to 20 years in a maximum security colony.

Throughout 2014 - 2015, there was virtually no investigation into the murder, and hearings on the defendants’ appeals were held in the Supreme Court of Russia.

In March 2015, sources in law enforcement agencies reported unofficial investigation data, according to which a number of circumstances surrounding the murder of Boris Nemtsov coincide with the picture of the murder of journalist A. Politkovskaya.

In October 2014, participants in a memorial ceremony held near the Novaya Gazeta editorial office in Moscow and organized by the international human rights organization Amnesty International demanded that those who ordered the murder of journalist A. Politkovskaya be identified. In 2015, colleagues and relatives of the deceased journalist also expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the investigation. Novaya Gazeta journalists expressed confidence that attempts to identify the person who ordered the murder of Anna Politkovskaya are not hopeless.

Human rights activists Oleg Orlov and Valery Borshchev stated that in For nine years now, Russian authorities have demonstrated their reluctance to find those who ordered the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. "Judging by her latest publications, about the crimes of security forces, It is possible that the orderer of Politkovskaya’s murder is someone from Chechnya. But during the investigation, these threads leading to Chechnya were cut off and torn. And the customer was not determined and identified,” added Oleg Orlov.

Until 2016, the case of the murder of A. Politkovskaya remained unsolved. Since the sentencing of the probable perpetrators of the murder, the investigation to identify the mastermind has made no progress.

Books

Anna Politkovskaya is the author of several documentary and journalistic books about the situation in Chechnya and Russia. Many of them have been translated into foreign languages. Among them: “Journey to Hell. Chechen Diary”, “Chechnya: Russia’s Shame”, “Second Chechen”, “Putin’s Russia”, “Russia without Putin”.

Awards

Anna Politkovskaya is a laureate of a number of Russian and international journalistic awards. For a series of reports from Chechnya in January 2000, she was awarded the Golden Pen of Russia prize. Other Anna Politkovskaya awards:

Diploma "Golden Gong 2000" for a series of materials about Chechnya;
Award of the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation "A good deed - a kind heart";
Prize of the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation for materials on the fight against corruption;
Pulitzer Prize (Washington);
Walter Gamnus Prize (Berlin) - with the wording “For civil courage”;
Annual OSCE Prize "For Journalism and Democracy" (February 2003) - with the wording "For publications on the state of human rights in Chechnya." The OSCE PA press release states that Anna Politkovskaya has gained international fame for her reporting from Chechnya. Her work has also been published in English as a book entitled "Russian Reporter in Chechnya's Dirty War";
A. Sakharov Prize "Journalism as an Act". The prize was established by Peter Vince and is awarded to Russian journalists for materials that - from the point of view of human rights and democratic values - pose and analyze problems important to society;
Global Award for Human Rights Journalism (Amnesty International, London);
Artem Borovik Prize. Established by the CBS television company for Russian journalists, it is awarded annually in New York. The first prize was awarded to Anna Politkovskaya;
Prize of the international literary publication "Lettres Internationales" (France) - with the wording "For a book of reports published in French under the title "Chechnya - the shame of Russia";
Freedom of the Press Award (Reporters Without Borders, awarded in Paris);
Olof Palme Prize (Stockholm) - with the wording “For achievements in the struggle for peace”;
Freedom and Future of the Press Award (Leipzig);
Award "Hero of Europe" (Time Magazine) - with the wording "For Courage";
Award "For Courage in Journalism" (International Women's Press Foundation) - with the wording "For reporting on the war in Chechnya."

Family

From 1978 to 2000, Anna Politkovskaya was married to television journalist Alexander Politkovsky. She left two children: son Ilya and daughter Vera.

The investigative team of the Investigative Committee under the General Prosecutor's Office, headed by Petros Gharibyan, tried to reconstruct the last days of Anna Politkovskaya's life literally by the hour. For this purpose, printouts of calls from mobile phones, data from cell towers, and recordings from external surveillance cameras were used. All this was presented to jurors in the Moscow District Military Court, where hearings in the case are taking place. This presentation was at the disposal of The New Times, and now we can tell how, according to investigators, the Novaya Gazeta journalist was killed.

4 days before death

For the first time, the camera at entrance No. 4 of building No. 8/12 on Lesnaya recorded the alleged killer on October 3, 2006 at 17.02. In any case, it is from this date that investigators begin their version. That is, 4 days before the crime. “A man in dark clothes, a cap and an object resembling a raincoat thrown over his left arm” (as in the investigative documents) moves along the house from entrance No. 4 on the street. Alexander Nevsky to entrance No. 2 on Lesnaya: Anna Politkovskaya lived here (photo 1). Politkovskaya's house is a corner building. Entrances No. 3 and 4 go to Alexander Nevsky Street, entrance No. 2 goes to Lesnaya. The man approaches the entrance door, goes inside, and a few minutes later, at 17.09, Anna Politkovskaya returns home. A few more minutes pass, and the journalist leaves the house with the dog, a man in a cap comes out after her (photo 2), but does not follow Politkovskaya, but leaves in the same direction from which he came. A day later, on October 5, history repeats itself. The same man, recorded by the camera, again walks the same route; after him, as two days ago, Politkovskaya enters the house (photo 3), and a few minutes later he leaves and again leaves along Alexander Nevsky Street. The day before the murder, October 6, cameras in the area of Politkovskaya’s house also filmed a VAZ-2104 car. Surveillance of the house continued.

Last day

October 7, 2006, 2 hours before the murder: Anna Politkovskaya, as evidenced by surveillance cameras, goes to the Ramstore store on Frunzenskaya Embankment. Two young men follow her. One of them, wearing a baseball cap, obviously aware of the camera, covers his face with his hand (photo 4). At 14 hours 42 minutes and 17 seconds, the camera at the entrance to the Ramstore once again shows Politkovskaya, followed by the same young man (photo 5).

Half an hour before this, another camera, on the corner of 3rd Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street and Lesnaya, recorded a VAZ-2104 car. The car drives along Lesnaya Street towards Politkovskaya’s house, passes it and goes to house No. 10/16. The car winds around the area for some time, and already at 15.55 it is recorded by a camera near house number 10 on Alexander Nevsky Street. The same man in a cap and dark clothes comes out of it and walks along the route that is already well known to him to house No. 8/12 on Lesnaya Street. The car goes towards the Garden Ring.

Politkovskaya returns from Ramstore. The alleged killer enters Politkovskaya’s entrance at 3:57 p.m. 9 minutes later, at 16.06, Anna comes to the door (photo 6). She has a bag of groceries from Ramstore in her hands (photo 7), and she takes the keys out of her purse (photo 8). At 16 hours 06 minutes 35 seconds she brings the key of the combination lock to the intercom (photo 9). At 16:06:39, the camera records that she entered the entrance, but in the frame there is only a shadow, part of the shoulder, and the left hand (photo 10). After 24 seconds, the entrance door opens and the killer comes out (photo 11). During these 24 seconds, Anna Politkovskaya managed to climb the steps, press the call button for the elevator that was waiting for her on the 1st floor, enter the cabin... The first shot was in the head. Death was instant. Then there were three more...

In the dock at the Moscow District Military Court there is neither the alleged killer nor the orderer of the massacre.

In a cage in front of the jurors are Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov: the prosecution suspects them of assisting in the crime. They, according to the investigation, conducted surveillance of Anna Politkovskaya from the same VAZ-2104 car. The investigation believes that the killer was their brother, Rustam Makhmudov. But it has still not been possible to find him. According to investigators, he is hiding in Euro
ne. As for the customer, apparently, the investigation does not even have workable leads on this matter.

The state prosecution seeks to complete the trial of the accomplices as soon as possible. Ideally - before the New Year. The lawyer of the accused, Murad Musaev, is convinced of this. “The state prosecution wants to quickly close this case so as not to look for the true culprits,” he said in an interview with The New Times. “My clients are only accused of complicity in a crime, but after the verdict, the prosecutor’s officers will simply check the box that the case has been solved, and will not look for either the killer or the person who ordered the murder of Anna Politkovskaya.”

The editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, has his own thoughts on this matter: “The fact is that a number of those involved in this case are secret or overt FSB agents. Many people, of course, don’t want to make this widely public. In order to remove the FSB from the Politkovskaya murder case, everything related to another accused, FSB Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov, was transferred to a separate case.” It was Colonel Ryaguzov, according to investigators, who provided the criminals with information about Anna Politkovskaya’s residence, which was carefully hidden by both the newspaper and Anna herself: she received many and frequent threats. For the same reasons, according to Muratov, they tried to make the process closed from the very beginning.

At the time of going to press this issue, the defense of the accused was being heard in court. What lies ahead is the questioning of additional witnesses, arguments between the parties, speeches by the prosecutor and lawyers before the jury and, in fact, the rendering of a verdict. Surprises are also possible. According to The New Times' interlocutors, who are closely familiar with the case materials, at this stage the jury, for example, may be provided with irrefutable evidence of Rustam Makhmudov's involvement in the murder. Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov will also give his testimony to the court. And here, too, surprises are possible.

After life

Last photo. An open elevator door: a wooden board placed by someone prevents it from closing. On the right is a bag with purchases from Ramstore; on the left, close to the body, is a pistol with a silencer. Anna Politkovskaya sits on the floor, leaning between the back and left walls of the elevator. Head down. It seems like a very tired man is just sitting there. Only there is blood on the gray hair, the glasses fell on the chest, and there is also a drop of blood on them... And those who remained on the other side of this elevator, in our lives, have one question: for what? And another: who?

1. Shamil Buraev (former head of the administration of the Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechnya)
2. Pavel Ryaguzov (FSB lieutenant colonel, employee of the FSB department for the Central Administrative District of Moscow)
3. Sergei Khadzhikurbanov (police major, former detective of the Organized Crime Control Department)
4. Dmitry Lebedev (employee of the operational search department of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate)
5. Dmitry Grachev (employee of the operational search department of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate)
6. Oleg Alimov (employee of the operational search department of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate)
7. Alexey Berkin (employee of the OP, former employee of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate)
8. Magomed Dimelkhanov (leader of the Alazan organized crime group operating in Moscow)
9. Tamerlan Makhmudov (member of the Alazan organized crime group)
10. Dzhabrail Makhmudov (member of the Alazan organized crime group)
11. Ibragim Makhmudov (member of the Alazan organized crime group)
12. Akhmed Isaev (market trader, truck driver, member of the Alazan organized crime group)

In 2006, preparations began for an unusual gift for the 54th birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin (October 7). There was a journalist who had long annoyed Vladimir Putin: Anna Politkovskaya, author of a number of reports about the lawlessness of the Putin regime and the FSB, war crimes of the Russian army in Chechnya (“Reports from a wild war”, “Poisoned by Putin”, “Corner of Hell”, etc.), author books “Putin's Russia”, an irreconcilable and uncompromising opponent of the current President of the Russian Federation.

“The consolidation of Putin’s power is a return to the Soviet system. It must be said that this became possible not only because of our own negligence, apathy and fatigue after too revolutionary changes. This comes amid a chorus of cheers from the West, most notably from Silvio Berlusconi, who seems to have simply fallen in love with Putin. He is Putin's main supporter in Europe, but Putin also has the support of Blair, Schröder and Chirac, and faces no opposition from Bush Jr. across the Atlantic. Therefore, no one stopped our KGB officer from returning to the Kremlin - neither the West, nor any serious opposition in Russia itself. During the so-called election campaign, from December 7, 2003 to March 14, 2004, Putin openly mocked voters... some chuckled: he behaves exactly like Stalin. Putin, too, was simultaneously “a friend of all children,” “the country’s first pig farmer,” “the best miner,” “a friend of athletes,” and “a leading filmmaker.” . . This summer will mark five years since the second Chechen war began. And there is no end in sight. At that time, the babies who would be declared martyrs had not yet been born, but since 1999, all murders of children as a result of bombings and “cleansing operations” remain unsolved; law enforcement agencies simply don’t investigate them.” (“Putin’s Russia”, 2004).

“Putin - the product of the darkest intelligence service in the country - has not been able to overcome his past and abandon the habits of a KGB lieutenant colonel. He continues to cull freedom-loving compatriots; he is still, as at the beginning of his career, busy strangling freedom.”
“We no longer want to be slaves, even if this is what suits the West most. We demand the right to be free."
“Putin resembles Gogol’s Akaki Akakievich. He is a little gray man who does not want to remain gray. Putin had a historic chance to get rid of his grayness and achieve greatness, but he remains a gray personality.”
(From various interviews with Anna Politkovskaya)

In 2000, Interior Ministry officials threatened to kill her for investigating police kidnappings for extortion. Politkovskaya had to go into hiding.

In February 2001, FSB officers accused Politkovskaya of spying for the Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev and kept her in a pit called “zidan” for 3 days.

In September 2004, during the Beslan hostage crisis, she was poisoned on a plane while trying to fly to the scene. She survived. There was no investigation.

Who had the idea to present “Tsar Vladimir” with the head of the main troublemaker for his birthday? Some believe that this was the wish of V.V. himself. Putin, others - that it was a “local initiative.” Knowing the morbid ambition and vindictiveness of Vladimir Putin, his supporters believed that nothing would please the “popularly elected father of the fatherland” more than the news of Politkovskaya’s death.

“The corpse of an enemy smells good” (Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Vitellius, 10).
Classic…

Be that as it may, we will never know the truth. If Putin’s regime continues, then the murder will be “pinned” on a group of people from the list (Nos. 1 - 12), no one will summon for questioning the head of Putin’s friends - the FSB, Nikolai Patrushev, the Chechen “President” Ramzan Kadyrov and the Deputy Prime Minister, former Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov.

If Putin's regime collapses, all his friends will be to blame for absolutely everything, including global warming, Islamic terrorism and low grain yields.

We will not learn anything significant beyond what is described below.

One authoritative Chechen figure called the leader of the Alazan organized crime group Dimelkhanov and instructed him to kill Anna Politkovskaya. According to investigators, this figure was Shamil Buraev, the former head of the administration of the Achkhoy-Martan district of Chechnya from 1995 to 2003,
by decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, dated June 5, 2000, he was awarded the Order of Courage “for heroism” shown during the first Chechen war. Buraev was removed from his post by Ramzan Kadyrov in 2003 and from that time lived in Moscow, where he had a business since 1990, and studied at the correspondence department of the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RAGS) with a specialty in Regional Management " Buraev organized the interaction of Dimelkhanov’s group with the former detective of the department for combating organized crime Khadzhikurbanov and FSB Lieutenant Colonel Ryaguzov. The group of perpetrators of the contract killing was provided with police support - three employees of the operational search department, as well as an employee of the security company Berkin, who also previously worked in the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate. The group of performers itself consisted of three Makhmudov brothers and driver Isaev.

On October 7, 2006, in the evening, a committee-police support group tracked Anna Politkovskaya to the entrance of a house on Lesnaya Street (where she rented an apartment), after which one of the performers entered the elevator with her and shot her four times.

Reassured by the support and cover of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, the perpetrators acted so carelessly that they left behind a lot of evidence, incl. in the form of recordings on CCTV cameras. This indicates that the group of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the organized crime group was already established and was not working together for the first time. This “combined team” of police, state security and gangsters was engaged in international activities (also contract killings).

As the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, Ivars Godmanis, reported in August 2007, the criminals who committed the murder of Novaya Gazeta columnist Anna Politkovskaya may be related to two unsolved contract killings in Latvia. Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yuri Chaika admitted that this group had previously carried out contract killings in Latvia and Ukraine. It is significant that FSB Lieutenant Colonel Ryaguzov was detained in Sheremetyevo-2 while returning home from Bulgaria.

It is known that political assassinations were one of the main tasks of the KGB of the USSR and remain the main political tool in the arsenal of the FSB of Russia. Quite recently, when the 12 listed persons were already behind bars, two more disloyal journalists were murdered in Russia - Ilyas Shurpaev and Gadzhi Abashilov.

The question remains: why were Politkovskaya’s killers “surrendered”? After all, the FSB usually does not hand over its killers, even when they are caught practically red-handed. For example, an FSB officer who shot Vladislav Listyev, television journalist, general director of ORT, on March 1, 1995 (as well as Politkovskaya, in the entrance of his own house) was released a few hours after his arrest and identification.

Apparently Vladimir Putin didn’t like the gift - so he decided to send the stupid guardsmen to their bunks. And he probably made a remark to his friends. Quietly, in a friendly way.

And, as required by the laws of the socialist realist genre, a look into the future.

On February 13, 2004, in the city of Doha (Qatar), two employees of the Russian FSB, with the assistance of the first secretary of the Russian Embassy in Qatar, planted a bomb in the car of the opposition leader of Chechnya (Ichkeria) Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. In the explosion, Yandarbiev was killed and his son was injured. 5 days after the explosion, on the night of February 19, 2004, the organizers of the murder were arrested by Qatari counterintelligence while trying to flee the country. The embassy secretary was released due to his diplomatic immunity, and the other two were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Qatari court.

The fate of the two unlucky KGB murderers was dealt with by the law firm “Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev and Partners.” In fact, the lawyers acted as representatives of the Russian intelligence services in bargaining with the Qatari intelligence services. Commerce and corporate camaraderie trumped justice. The killers were handed over to their owners and released to Russia. The owner of a law firm that bargained on behalf of the Russian Federation for killers in uniform is Vladimir Putin’s classmate, Nikolai Egorov. Now he is part of the team of the newly elected (now it is called) President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. The “newly chosen one” needs people who will dissuade hired killers from the justice of foreign countries. Only the masks of the Russian authorities change - Yeltsin, Putin, Medvedev... But the style remains. “No man, no problem” (Joseph Stalin).

Anna Politkovskaya was not killed by some Chechen brother Makhmudov on a tip from some state security lieutenant colonel Ryaguzov. She was killed by the Russian state machine, which only knows how to commit crimes. She is so structured, she is so tuned, she is so designed that she cannot do anything other than crimes. And she will kill and rob until she is destroyed.

This is, I apologize for the expression, the moral of this whole story.

Anna Politkovskaya, whose maiden name is Mazepa, is a Russian journalist and writer who became famous throughout the world in the second half of the 90s thanks to her reports from Chechnya. The conflict in this mountainous republic was the central theme of Politkovskaya's journalistic work.

Anna was born in New York, America, where her parents lived at that time. The fact is that the girl’s father, Stepan Fedorovich Mazepa, was a diplomat, an employee of the mission of the Ukrainian SSR to the United Nations.

Radio Sweden

After some time, the family returned to Moscow, where Anna graduated from high school and finally decided on her future profession. Anna Mazepa was very fond of humanitarian subjects, but she was also drawn to communicating with people. The girl’s choice fell on the journalistic profession, and she began to study this specialty at the relevant faculty of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov.

Journalist

In the 1980s, Anna Politkovskaya worked as a correspondent and journalist for such periodicals as Izvestia, Air Transport, and Megapolis Express. Later, she began to collaborate with Obshchaya Gazeta as editor of the emergency department.

In the mid-90s, Politkovskaya was a special correspondent and columnist for Novaya Gazeta. During the war in the Chechen Republic, the journalist repeatedly traveled to combat areas. For reports and articles from the scene, the woman has repeatedly received awards from the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation, and was also a laureate of the Golden Pen of Russia award.

Present Tense

But Anna was not limited to just bringing information to the attention of the public. She actively helped the mothers of dead soldiers defend their rights in court, fought corruption in the Ministry of Defense and conducted journalistic investigations against police officers who exceeded their powers.

For example, in September 2001, she published an article “Disappearing People,” in which she accused a law enforcement officer of killing civilians. Four years later, based on the results of the investigation begun by Politkovskaya, one of the policemen mentioned in the publication was sentenced to 11 years.

Magazine "Samizdat"

During the hostage crisis in Moscow, at the Dubrovka Theater Center, it was Anna Politkovskaya who was chosen as the person capable of negotiating with terrorists. And when the tragedy happened in Beslan, the journalist immediately flew to the school where the militants had captured the children, but on the plane she suddenly felt ill and was hospitalized in an unconscious state after an emergency landing in Rostov. Anna would later claim that they tried to poison her in order to prevent objective coverage of the events in Beslan.

ZhurDom

Politkovskaya’s last article in Novaya Gazeta was entitled “Punitive Conspiracy.” In it, she spoke about the Chechen detachments fighting on the side of the federal forces. An announcement was also made of a new publication about torture in Chechnya. But this material no longer appeared in print.

Books

Anna Politkovskaya shared her impressions and collected information with the public in books of her own writing. These are not works of art, but journalistic materials based on personal experience and communication with many people.

The first book to be published was “Journey to Hell. Chechen diary". It was dedicated to the events of 1999 in the Chechen Republic. “The Second Chechen”, “Dirty War: Russian Reporter in Chechnya” and “Alien War, or Life Behind the Barrier” were written on the same topic.

Many of Anna Stepanovna’s works were translated into different languages of the world and published not only in Russia, but also in the West. But the greatest interest, both at home and abroad, was aroused by the scandalous book “Putin’s Russia,” in which the journalist and writer criticized the current government.

Personal life

When Anna Mazepa was studying journalism at Moscow State University, she met another student, Alexander Politkovsky. They were not classmates, since the young man was five years older than the girl. Soon they got married and became spouses.

Echo of Moscow

Two children of Anna and Alexander were born into this family: son Ilya and daughter Vera. The Politkovskys lived together for 21 years, but it cannot be said that their life was cloudless. Both Anna and her husband are complex, frank and straightforward people. Professional successes also affected relationships. Politkovsky was in great demand during the Perestroika period, while his wife had not yet achieved fame. In the 90s, everything changed upside down - thanks to sharp articles on topical topics, the woman gained recognition, but her husband no longer became so popular.

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Be that as it may, in 2000 the marriage actually broke up. Alexander and Anna began to live separately, but the divorce was not filed, so Politkovskaya officially remained a married woman until the end of her life.

It should be noted that immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Anna Politkovskaya requested documents for birthright citizenship in the United States. Her claim was satisfied, and the woman had two passports - American and Russian, which she had no intention of giving up.

Murder

On October 7, 2006, in the elevator of her building in the center of Moscow, Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead with a pistol. The killer fired four shots, one of which was to the head, the so-called “control” shot. This circumstance immediately led the investigation to the version of a contract killing.

Many options were considered to identify the customer and performers. A connection with the professional activities of the journalist was assumed, the so-called “Chechen trace” was also mentioned, that is, they found an opportunity to protect Anna Stepanovna from accusations, and perhaps, on the contrary, to discredit the head of Chechnya.

A version of personal revenge from some hero of her publication was not ruled out. In addition, both the president’s supporters and the opposition found benefits in Politkovskaya’s death.

By the way, the President of the Russian Federation himself stated that the murder of a journalist causes much more harm and harm to Russia than all her articles. And the Novaya Gazeta publication, of which the deceased woman was an employee, announced a 25 million ruble bonus to anyone who would help in the investigation of the crime.

Regions of Russia

As a result, the investigation established that the actual perpetrator of the murder was Rustam Makhmudov, and the organizer of the crime was the famous Chechen crime boss and businessman Lom-Ali Gaitukaev. They both received life sentences. Also imprisoned were former employee of the ethnic department of the RUBOP Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, as well as the killer’s brothers, Dzhabrail and Tamerlan Makhmudov.

In addition, the participation in the murder of a former employee of the capital's police department, police lieutenant colonel Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, was revealed, who supplied the organizers with information about the journalist, including the address of her residence and her daily routine.