October 11, 2023

Russia Remembers Anna Politovskaya on Putin's Birthday


Russia Remembers Anna Politovskaya on Putin's Birthday
A girl leaves flowers at journalist Anna Politkovskaya's home, where she was murdered. SOTAvision, Telegram.

In 2006, on Russian President Vladimir Putin's birthday, Anna Politkovskaya, a renowned journalist for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was murdered. This year, on Putin's birthday, October 7, Russians across the country laid flowers to commemorate the seventeenth anniversary of Politkovskaya's assassination.

Politkovskaya was born Anna Mazepa to Ukrainian Soviet diplomats who were in New York City. At a young age, her parents relocated to Moscow, where she studied journalism at Moscow State University. She married fellow student and Vzglyad TV host Andrey Politkovsky. At first, Politkovskaya worked for the state newspaper Izvestya, covering accidents and emergencies. Then, at Obychnaya Gazeta, Politkovskaya began investigating corruption.

Politkovskaya's most notable work was her coverage of Chechnya for Novaya Gazeta. She exposed corruption in the Ministry of Defense and recorded human rights violations by Russian troops and the government in Chechnya. She openly criticized the FSB and President Vladimir Putin. Notably, Politkovskaya helped women and children trapped in the Moscow Theater Siege have access to water. She was poisoned on an Aeroflot plane while traveling to be a mediator in the Beslan school hostage crisis in 2004.

On Putin's birthday in 2006, Politkovskaya was murdered inside an elevator on her way back from the grocery store. No one was ever punished for her assassination.

In Kazan, residents laid flowers at the monument for victims of political repression next to pictures of Politkovskaya and dissident journalist Irina Slavina, who died by self-immolation. A Saratov resident and two Kirovians protested with portraits of murdered and imprisoned journalists. Ulyanovsk authorities explicitly banned any demonstrations for the late journalist. Muscovites laid flowers near Politkovskaya's home and former headquarters of Novaya Gazeta.

In St. Petersburg, residents left flowers on the local Solovetsky Stone, alongside a picture of Politovskaya with the inscription: "The killer is still killing."

You Might Also Like

Integration through Education?
  • October 08, 2023

Integration through Education?

Russian President Putin stressed the importance of education in regions newly annexed from Ukraine. But is there a more sinister motive at play?
One Country, Two Wars
  • September 16, 2023

One Country, Two Wars

The Kremlin is currently conducting not one, but two horrific wars.
Dance Floor Dissent
  • May 26, 2023

Dance Floor Dissent

A video of people singing pro-Ukraine lyrics prompted government intervention.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955