Anna Politkovskaya warned of Putin's Russia, editor says

Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian reporter shot dead in Moscow in 2006, had warned of Russia's direction under Vladimir Putin before her killing, her former editor Sergei Sokolov said on the 20th anniversary of her death.

Politkovskaya reported on the war in Chechnya and on Putin's rise while working for Novaya Gazeta. She was killed in the lift of her central Moscow apartment block on October 7, 2006, Putin's 54th birthday.

“Everything that is happening with Russia was predicted by Anna Politkovskaya in the books she published before her death,” Sokolov said. He said many people at the time thought she was exaggerating the dangers.

The gunmen convicted over her murder are in prison, but the person or people who ordered the killing have never been named. Asked about the case in 2021, Putin said Russian agencies “did everything to uncover these crimes”.

Sokolov said Politkovskaya would not have stayed silent if she were alive today. Exiled Russian journalists Yegor Feoktistov and Olga Churakova said her example continues to influence people entering the profession despite the risks.

Politkovskaya had also criticised Ramzan Kadyrov, who later became Chechnya's leader. Kadyrov called her an “enemy of the Chechen people” and said she would “answer” for her criticism.