Assassination of Anna Politkovskaya explained

On 7 October 2006, Russian journalist, writer and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow. She was known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and for criticism of Vladimir Putin. She authored several books about the Chechen wars, as well as Putin's Russia, and received several international awards for her work. Her murder, believed to be a contract killing, sparked a strong international reaction. Three Chechens were arrested for the murder, but were acquitted. The verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court of Russia and new trials were held. In total, six people were convicted of charges related to her death.

Background

Politkovskaya's book, Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy, criticized Putin's federal presidency, including his pursuit of the Second Chechen War. She accused Putin and the Russian secret service FSB of stifling civil liberties to establish a Soviet-style dictatorship, adding that "it is we who are responsible for Putin's policies":

"Society has shown limitless apathy.... As the Chekists have become entrenched in power, we have let them see our fear, and thereby have only intensified their urge to treat us like cattle. The KGB respects only the strong. The weak it devours. We of all people ought to know that."She also wrote:

"We are hurtling back into a Soviet abyss, into an information vacuum that spells death from our own ignorance. All we have left is the internet, where information is still freely available. For the rest, if you want to go on working as a journalist, it's total servility to Putin. Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial—whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit."[1]

"People often tell me that I am a pessimist, that I don't believe in the strength of the Russian people, that I am obsessive in my opposition to Putin and see nothing beyond that," she opens an essay titled Am I Afraid?, finishing it—and the book—with the words: "If anybody thinks they can take comfort from the 'optimistic' forecast, let them do so. It is certainly the easier way, but it is the death sentence for our grandchildren."[2] [3]

Death threats

In September 2004, while traveling to Beslan, Russia, during the Beslan school hostage crisis to help in negotiations with the hostage-takers, Politkovskaya fell violently ill and lost consciousness after drinking tea. She had been reportedly poisoned,[4] with some accusing the former Soviet secret police poison facility.[5]

In December 2005, while attending a conference on freedom of the press organized by Reporters Without Borders in Vienna, Austria, Politkovskaya said: "People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think. In fact, one can even get killed for giving me information. I am not the only one in danger. I have examples that prove it."[6] She often received death threats as a result of her work,[7] including being threatened with rape and experiencing a mock execution after being arrested by the military in Chechnya.[8]

According to Russian state security officer Alexander Litvinenko, Politkovskaya asked him if her life was in imminent danger before the assassination. He confirmed the danger and recommended her to escape from Russia immediately. He also asserted that former presidential candidate Irina Hakamada warned Politkovskaya about threats to her life coming from Putin. Hakamada later denied her involvement in passing any specific threats, and said that she warned Politkovskaya only in general terms more than a year before her death.[9] The warning by Litvinenko was possibly related to an earlier statement made by Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who claimed that former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Boris Nemtsov received word from Hakamada that Putin threatened her and like-minded colleagues in person. According to Berezovsky, Putin uttered that Hakamada and her colleagues "will take in the head immediately, literally, not figuratively" if they "open the mouth" about the Russian apartment bombings.

Assassination

On 7 October 2006, Politkovskaya was found shot dead in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow. Police found a Makarov pistol and four shell casings beside her body. Reports indicated a contract killing, as she was shot four times, once in the head.

The assassination occurred on Vladimir Putin's birthday and two days after Ramzan Kadyrov's 30th birthday celebrations, "raising suspicions that the murder was an unasked-for present from a henchman of one or both". According to Boris Volodarsky, "The next signature murder was on 7 October when Anna Politkovskaya was shot on Putin's birthday. They certainly could not afford another method – the whole effect would be lost should she die in a car accident or of a heart attack. It was all self-protection, of course, as the lady had slapped Putin in the face by publishing her book Putin's Russia in the West"[10]

The funeral was held on Tuesday, 11 October 2006, at 2:30 p.m. at the Troyekurovsky Cemetery. Before Politkovskaya was buried, more than 1,000 people filed past her coffin. Dozens of Politkovskaya's colleagues, public figures and admirers of her work gathered for the funeral. No high-ranking Russian officials were seen at the ceremony.[11]

Reaction

See main article: Reactions to the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya. The European Union and many governments condemned the murder of Politkovskaya, calling for a thorough investigation into the crime by Russian authorities.

Soon after her death, Vitaly Yaroshevsky, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta, where she worked, said: "The first thing that comes to mind is that Anna was killed for her professional activities. We don't see any other motive for this terrible crime." He said Politkovskaya gave an interview to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty the week before her death in which she said she was a witness in a criminal case against Ramzan Kadyrov in connection with abductions in Chechnya—a case based on her reporting. In that same interview, she called Kadyrov the "Stalin of our days".[12]

On 8 October 2006, hundreds rallied in downtown Moscow to protest the murder of Politkovskaya and the recent crackdown on ethnic Georgians.[13] The demonstration was described by the Moscow-based, liberal radio station Echo of Moscow as "the largest protest rally of the opposition recently held in Russia."[14] A day after the murder, there was a demonstration and memorial consisting of 500 people in Moscow as well as 300 people gathering in St. Petersburg. Further rallies and vigils took place in other Russian cities, including St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Saratov and Krasnoyarsk, as well as London, Paris, New York, and Washington.[15]

Over 1,000 people (later estimated at over 3,000) gathered at the Russian embassy in Helsinki, Finland to pay their respects to Politkovskaya. The demonstration was silent, and people held candles. Two of Politkovskaya's books have been published in Finland as translated editions.

On 10 October 2006, 2,000 demonstrators called Putin a "murderer" during his visit to Dresden, Germany.[16] [17] Putin replied:

"This journalist was indeed a sharp critic of the present Russian authorities...but the degree of her influence over political life in Russia was extremely insignificant. She was well-known in journalistic circles, among human rights activists, in the West. I repeat, her influence over political life in Russia was minimal. And in my opinion murdering such a person certainly does much greater damage from the authorities' point of view, authorities that she strongly criticized, than her publications ever did."[18] [19]

Possibly related events in the aftermath of her death

Politkovskaya's assassination was discussed by the media in connection with the deaths of other critics of Putin,[20] including her colleague from Novaya Gazeta Yuri Shchekochikhin,[21] [22] Russian Duma members Galina Starovoitova and Sergei Yushenkov, and journalist Artyom Borovik:[23]

"Name the bastard. Anna Politkovskaya did not do it, so I will, for both of us.[24] You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people".

According to some reports, Litvinenko tried to investigate Politkovskaya's death.[25] [26] He was also writing a book about FSB activities including concentration camps in Chechnya. In that regard, he had frequent contacts with Politkovskaya.[27] Litvinenko's poisoning was remarkably similar to the thallium poisoning of KGB defector Nikolai Khokhlov,[28] whom Politkovskaya had interviewed for Novaya Gazeta.[29]

Many commentators have noted that she was killed on Putin's birthday. Historian Yuri Felshtinsky and political scientist Vladimir Pribylovsky commented that none of the official suspects had personal motives to kill Politkovskaya.

Case developments

First arrests and official announcements

In late August 2007, police arrested ten suspects believed to have been involved in Politkovskaya's murder. Russia's Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika stated that the plotters' aim was to start a crisis to destabilise Russia. The suspects included members of a Chechen organized crime group, as well as several former FSB agents.[36]

On 28 August 2007, Chaika met Putin and FSB director Nikolai Patrushev, during which he made an official announcement:

"Our investigation has led us to conclude that only people living abroad could be interested in killing Politkovskaya...Forces interested in de-stabilising the country, in stoking crisis...in discrediting the national leadership, provoking external pressure on the country, could be interested in this crime. Anna Politkovskaya knew who ordered her killing. She met him more than once."[37]

Chaika also said that Politkovskaya's killers were probably connected with the murders of Central Bank deputy chairman Andrei Kozlov and American journalist Paul Khlebnikov. The person noted by Chaika as organizer of the murder was identified in the media as Boris Berezovsky.[38] Chaika's statement was supported by Andrei Lugovoi, who had been indicted by a British court with regard to the Alexander Litvinenko poisoning. Lugovoi said Berezovsky had organized the murders of Politkovskaya and Litvinenko, and the attempted murder of Yelena Tregubova.[39]

Suspected killer identified

On 28 March 2008, it was reported that the suspected killer of journalist Anna Politkovskaya had been identified[40] as 30-year-old Chechen Rustam Makhmudov, a brother of Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, who have been suspected of complicity in the murder.[41] [42]

On 3 April 2008, Investigating Committee of the Persecution Office of Russia Dmitry Dovgy[43] told the press that he is convinced that "Politkovskaya's murder was masterminded by Boris Berezovsky and carried out by Khozh-Ahmed Noukhayev". Dovgy said that the murder was aimed at undermining confidence in law and order in Russia. He said the organizers [of Politkovskaya's murder] "wanted to show that well-known people can be killed here in broad daylight, the law enforcement agencies seemingly unable to solve such crimes". Berezovsky dismissed the accusations in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio. "This is another attempt to distract the investigation from searching for the real person behind the murder", he said.

On 4 April 2008, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that all suspects in the case were members of Russian special services, and someone in the government was protecting the killers by openly disclosing the secret materials of the investigation.[44] The report discussed the involvement of Nukayev who allegedly also organized the assassination of Paul Khlebnikov. According to this publication, the traces of the killers lead to the gang of Maxim Lazovsky,[44] a former FSB officer who allegedly organized a bombing in Moscow in 1994, and was later involved in the 1999 Russian apartment bombings.

On 18 June 2008, the investigating committee at the Moscow prosecutor general's office announced that the preliminary investigation had concluded, and three people, Sergey Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Ibragim Makhmudov, were set to stand trial for murder. Another suspect, Pavel Ryaguzov, was charged with lesser offenses, including abuse of office and extortion. Colleagues who were close to Politkovskaya at Novaya Gazeta considered the mystery far from over. The deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta magazine, Sergey Sokolov, said: "The investigation is finished in regards to only the three people in question. But as for other people involved – the ones who have been identified and those who are still to be identified, like the killer and the person who ordered the murder – they are set apart into a separate group. The investigation will be continued."Russian prosecutors said their investigation against Rustam Makhmudov, who they alleged had shot Politkovskaya a month before, was ongoing.[45]

On 1 July 2008, Russia's chief investigator Alexander Bastrykin confirmed that Rustam Makhmudov, the man believed by authorities to have fired the fatal shot, was hiding in western Europe. Bastrykin did not publicly identify the specific country, but said it was known by Russian authorities. Unconfirmed Russian media reports suggested that Moscow had requested Makhmudov's extradition from Belgium. At the end of May 2011, Makhmudov was arrested in Chechnya.

Other arrests

On 16 July 2012, Russian officials announced that a former police officer, Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a lieutenant colonel in the police when Politkovskaya had been assassinated, was charged with planning the murder of Politkovskaya.[46]

Trial

On 2 October 2008, the case against Khadzhikurbanov and Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov was sent to court by the prosecutors.[47]

On 25 November 2008, it was reported that the murder was ordered by a Russian politician. The defence lawyer representing the four men charged over Politkovskaya's murder told reporters that the unnamed politician, based in Russia, was mentioned in the case files.

The deputy Editor-in-chief editor of Novaya Gazeta Sergei Sokolov publicly asserted in court that the suspected hitman Rustam Makhmudov had been wanted for other crimes by the police since 1998, but had been protected by the Russian domestic secret service (FSB) and, personally, by FSB Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov who provided him with a forged passport. Ryaguzov was another suspect in the case. An attorney for Ryaguzov objected to this disclosure on the grounds that the alleged connections of Makmudov with the FSB represent a "state secret".

On 19 February 2009 the trial ended with the unanimous jury acquittal of Dzhabrail Makhmudov, Ibragim Makhmudov, and Sergei Khadzhikurbanov. The prosecutor Vera Pashkovskaya stated that the verdict would be appealed.[48]

Commenting on the end of the trial, Andrew McIntosh, Chairman of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's Sub-Committee on the Media and Rapporteur on media freedom, expressed his deep frustration at the lack of progress in investigating the murder of Anna Politkovskaya on 7 October 2006 and the inability of the Russian authorities to find her killers: "Two years ago, in its Resolution 1535 (2007), the Assembly called on the Russian Parliament to closely monitor the progress in the criminal investigations regarding the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and hold the authorities accountable for any failures to investigate or prosecute. The closure of the trial yesterday can only be regarded as a blatant failure. I call on the Russian authorities and Parliament to relaunch a proper investigation and shed light on this murder, which undermines not only freedom of expression in Russia, but also its democratic foundation based on the rule of law. There are no excuses for these flawed investigations into murders of politically critical journalists writing against corruption and crime within government, such as the murders of Georgy Gongadze in Ukraine in 2000 and Paul Klebnikov in Moscow in 2004."[49]

The BBC comment on the trial's failure said: "The alleged killer was somehow tipped off and was able to flee the country. And it has never emerged why Anna Politkovskaya had been under surveillance by the FSB for at least two months before her murder. Very quickly the investigation ground to a halt. As soon as it became clear that the FSB was involved, a veil of secrecy descended."[50]

Retrial

On 25 June 2009, the Supreme Court overturned the not guilty verdicts and ordered a retrial for three men on charges related to her murder.[51]

In December 2012 former police officer Dmitry Pavliutchenkov was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison for the murder in a special bargain deal for providing evidence against those who ordered the killing. He did not actually name any person(s) who hired him to commit the murder, prompting Politkovskaya's family to call for a longer sentence.[52]

In June 2014 five men were sentenced to prison for the murder, two of them receiving life sentences.

On 14 November 2023, it was reported that Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, one of five people jailed for Politkovskaya's death, received a presidential pardon after accepting and finishing a contract to fight in Ukraine as part of Russia's invasion. However, his lawyer said that he was still in Ukraine, having signed another contract to fight there as a volunteer.[53]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Anna . Politkovskaya . 1 . Poisoned by Putin . . en-gb . 2004-09-04 . 2022-10-07 . 0261-3077 . 1756-3224 . 60623878 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221007084824/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/09/russia.media . 2022-10-07 . live . dmy-all.
  2. Web site: Anna Politkovskaia (biography) . 2003 . 2022-10-07 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20031012175519/https://www.lettre-ulysses-award.org/authors03/politkovskaia.html . 2003-10-12 . dead . dmy-all .
  3. News: Anna . Politkovskaya . 1 . Agatha . Haun . Vera . Reide . Ana Politkovskaya's last article: Punitive agreement . 2006-10-13 . interlocks.net . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20071208041255/http://www.interlocals.net/?q=node/450 . 2007-12-08 . dead . dmy-all.
  4. . 2004-09-03 . Journalist reportedly poisoned en route to hostage negotiations, another journalist detained at Moscow airport . live . . en . . https://web.archive.org/web/20201025235559/https://ifex.org/journalist-reportedly-poisoned-en-route-to-hostage-negotiations-another-journalist-detained-at-moscow-airport/ . 2020-10-25 . 2022-10-10 . The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was poisoned last night en route to Beslan, North Ossetia, where about 40 heavily armed fighters, reportedly of Chechen and Ingush origin, seized hostages at an elementary school yesterday. . dmy-all .
  5. News: Sixsmith . Martin . Martin Sixsmith . 2007-04-08 . The Laboratory 12 poison plot . live . . en-gb . 0956-1382 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081203111036/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1625866.ece . 2008-12-03 . 2022-10-10 . subscription . The sophisticated planning behind the plot and the evidence of the poison factory strongly suggested an FSB-style operation. . dmy-all .
  6. . 2006-07-10 . Trois journalistes tués le jour de l'inauguration à Bayeux du Mémorial des reporters . Three journalists killed on the day of the inauguration in Bayeux of the Reporters' Memorial . dead . . fr . https://web.archive.org/web/20061029220955/http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19098 . 2006-10-29 . 2022-10-10 . Anna Politkovskaya avait participé, en décembre 2005, à une conférence sur la liberté de la presse organisée à Vienne par Reporters sans frontières. Elle avait déclaré ce jour-là dans son allocution : « Des gens paient parfois de leur vie pour avoir dit tout haut ce qu’ils pensent. On peut même être tué rien que pour m’avoir transmis des informations. Je ne suis pas la seule à être en danger. J’ai des exemples qui le prouvent. » . Anna Politkovskaya took part, in December 2005, in a conference on freedom of the press organized in Vienna by Reporters Without Borders. She said that day in her speech: "People sometimes pay with their lives for saying out loud what they think. You can even be killed just for giving me information. I'm not the only one in danger. I have examples that prove it." . dmy-all .
  7. News: Meek . James . James Meek (author) . 2004-10-14 . Dispatches from a savage war . live . . en-gb . 1756-3224 . 0261-3077 . 60623878 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220911095710/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/15/gender.uk . 2022-09-11 . 2022-10-10 . In between, she has experienced countless death threats from Russian troops, Chechen fighters and the other, more shadowy armed groups operating in the margins of the war. The kidnappings, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, rapes and tortures she has reported on in Chechnya have left her convinced that Putin's policies are engendering the terrorists they are supposed to eliminate. . dmy-all .
  8. News: Politkovskaya . Anna . 1 . 2006-10-15 . Her Own Death, Foretold . live . Opinions . . en-us . 0190-8286 . 2269358 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170314075253/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/14/AR2006101400805.html . 2017-03-14 . 2022-10-10 . dmy-all .
  9. News: Kachkaeva . Anna . 2006-04-12 . ru:Ирина Хакамада о партийном строительстве и экономической ситуации в России . Irina Khakamada on party building and the economic situation in Russia . http://www.svobodanews.ru/Transcript/2006/12/04/20061204200017950.html . dead . ru:Свобода . . ru . 0274-6964 . 1766932 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180758/http://www.svobodanews.ru/Transcript/2006/12/04/20061204200017950.html . 2007-09-30 . 2022-10-10 . ru:Ирина Хакамада: Ну, царство ему небесное, не хочется вообще отыгрываться на этом убийстве, потому что очень темная история, никто ничего понять не может. Я не люблю такие истории комментировать. Единственное, что, действительно, я сама тоже посмотрела Интернет и сама убедилась: он на пресс-конференции заявил о том, что я была подругой Анны Политковской и передавала угрозы ее жизни, исходя из источника в Кремле. Поскольку я часто посещала Кремль, то я обладала такой информация. Приблизительно так это было сказано. . Irina Khakamada: Well, God rest his soul, I don’t want to take revenge on this murder at all, because it’s a very dark story, no one can understand anything. I do not like to comment on such stories. The only thing that, indeed, I myself also looked at the Internet and was convinced for myself: at a press conference, he said that I was a friend of Anna Politkovskaya and transmitted threats to her life, based on a source in the Kremlin. Since I often visited the Kremlin, I had such information. That's pretty much how it was said. . dmy-all .
  10. Book: Volodarsky . Boris . Boris Volodarsky . 2010-02-08 . Dead Souls: From Stalin to Putin . https://archive.org/details/kgbspoisonfactor0000volo/page/224 . registration . KGB's Poison Factory: From Lenin to Litvinenko . registration . en . First . . 251 . 978-0760337530 . 2009042348 . 308175992 . OL24408680M . 2022-10-10 . . dmy-all .
  11. Web site: Thousands mourn Russian journalist . Reuters . 10 October 2006 . 10 October 2006 .
  12. http://www.svobodanews.ru/Transcript/2006/10/05/20061005120031740.html New and Old Ramzan (Russian)
  13. News: . 2006-10-08 . 500 people rally in Moscow to protest journalist's murder, crackdown on Georgians . dead . . . en . . 0294-8052 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061127174311/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/08/europe/EU_GEN_Russia_Protest.php . 2006-11-27 . 2022-10-10 . Hundreds rallied in downtown Moscow on Sunday to protest the murder of crusading journalist Anna Politkovskaya and the Russian crackdown on Georgians. . dmy-all .
  14. News: . 2006-10-08 . ru:МНОГОЧИСЛЕННАЯ АКЦИЯ ПАМЯТИ АННЫ ПОЛИТКОВСКОЙ ПРОШЛА В ЦЕНТРЕ МОСКВЫ НА ПУШКИНСКОЙ ПЛОЩАДИ. . Numerous Action In Memory Of Anna Politkovskaya Was Held In The Center Of Moscow On Pushkin Square . http://www.echo.msk.ru/news/337481.html . . ru . https://web.archive.org/web/20061021003730/http://www.echo.msk.ru/news/337481.html . 2006-10-21 . 2022-10-10 . dmy-all .
  15. Web site: Ingush Police Break Up Rally Honoring Politkovskaya . 19 October 2006 . 19 May 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930191934/http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?volume_id=416&issue_id=3894&article_id=2371554 . 30 September 2007 . dead.
  16. Web site: Putin in Dresden mit "Mörder"-Rufen empfangen . de . 10 October 2006 . 11 October 2006 . Der Spiegel . https://web.archive.org/web/20061016070229/http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0%2C1518%2C441835%2C00.html . 16 October 2006 . live .
  17. News: Putin faces 'murderer' taunt as journalist is buried . 11 October 2006 . 11 October 2006 . The Daily Telegraph . London . Hannah . Cleaver . Adrian . Blomfield . https://web.archive.org/web/20061029031446/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F10%2F11%2Fwputin11.xml . 29 October 2006 . dead .
  18. Web site: Mourners pay homage to slain journalist . . . 10 October 2006 . 10 October 2006 . 0745-483X . 61312383 . dmy-all .
  19. News: Andrey . Kolesnikov . Andrey Vladimirovich Kolesnikov . 2006-10-11 . Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel Work Together . . 2022-10-07 . en . 1561-347X . 1563-6380 . 244126120 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184736/http://www.kommersant.com/p712110/r_527/Putin_visit_Germany/ . 2007-09-30 . Merkel began by expressing her shock at the recent murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow. “The Russian president has promised me that everything possible will be done to solve that murder,” she added. [...] Putin also commented on the murder. “Whoever committed that murder,” he said in what sounded like a statement prepared in advance, “and whatever motivated it, we should acknowledge that the crime was abominable in its cruelty.” Politkovskaya was a critic of the authorities, he noted, and her influence should not be overestimated. “It was minimal,” he concluded. “She was known among journalists and in human rights circles and in the West, but I repeat that she had no influence on political life. Her murder causes much more harm than her publications did. Whoever did it will be punished.” [...] Two hours later, at the session of the St. Petersburg Dialog, the subject arose again. “Those people who are hiding from Russian justice are willing to sacrifice anyone to create a wave of anti-Russian feeling,” Putin said. [...] Then the two leaders turned to what really interested them, the Stockman deposit. . dmy-all .
  20. Specter . Michael . Michael Specter . 2007-01-29 . Kremlin, Inc.: Why are Vladimir Putin's opponents dying? . live . . en-us . 0028-792X . 320541675 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220710195348/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/01/29/kremlin-inc . 2022-07-10 . 2022-10-10 . subscription . dmy-all.
  21. News: Yablokova . Oksana . 2003-07-07 . Worries Linger as Shchekochikhin's Laid to Rest. . dead . . en . 1097137921 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070426093038/http://eng.terror99.ru/publications/118.htm . 2007-04-26 . 2022-10-10 . eng.terror99.ru . dmy-all.
  22. Web site: http://2006.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2006/82n/n82n-s05.shtml. ru:Агент Неизвестен . Agent Unknown . ru:Новая газета . . ru . 82 . 2006-10-30 . 2022-10-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160225184153/http://2006.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2006/82n/n82n-s05.shtml . 2016-02-25 . dead . 1606-4828 . 1682-7384 . 58481623 . dmy-all.
  23. News: . 2006-10-19 . Russia: High-Profile Killings, Attempted Killings In The Post-Soviet Period . live . . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20220603213747/https://www.rferl.org/a/1071368.html . 2022-06-03 . 2022-10-10 . dmy-all .
  24. Book: Goldfarb . Alex . Alexander Goldfarb (biologist) . Litvinenko . Marina . 2007-05-22 . 14. The "Tiny Nuclear Bomb" . https://archive.org/details/deathofdissident0000gold/page/315/mode/1up . registration . Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB . registration . en . First . . 978-1416551652 . 2007012510 . 104889488 . OL8457587M . 2022-10-10 . . dmy-all.
  25. News: Radiation found after spy's death. BBC. 24 November 2006. 25 November 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20070121152558/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6180682.stm. 21 January 2007. live.
  26. News: Who did it? Five theories of Litvinenko's demise. The Times. 26 November 2006. 16 May 2006. London.
  27. Web site: Софья . Корниенко . http://www.svobodanews.ru/Article/2006/11/23/20061123180949473.html . ru:Александр всегда знал, что за ним охотятся . ru:Свобода . . ru . 0274-6964 . 1766932 . 23 November 2006.
  28. Web site: Встреча С Прошлым. Novaya Gazeta . ru . 18 May 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20060727120235/http://2004.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2004/46n/n46n-s10.shtml. 27 July 2006. dead.
  29. Web site: Свою Историю Болезни Я Так И Не Видел… Зачем?. Novaya gazeta . ru.
  30. Web site: Were Baisarov and Politkovskaya on the same hit list? . Chechnya Weekly . 22 November 2006 . 16 May 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180935/http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2372631 . 30 September 2007 . live.
  31. Vladimir "Pooty-Poot" Putin, Bush's buddy, is getting out of hand. https://web.archive.org/web/20061214091852/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12623429/the_low_post_bushs_buddy_vlad_is_getting_out_of_hand/4. dead. 14 December 2006. . 21 November 2006. 16 May 2007.
  32. Web site: Бывший резидент КГБ Олег Гордиевский не сомневается в причастности к отравлению Литвиненко российских спецслужб . ru:Свобода . . ru . 0274-6964 . 1766932 . 20 November 2006 . 18 May 2007 . 24 February 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080224091752/http://www.svobodanews.ru/Transcript/2006/11/20/20061120204213113.html . dead .
  33. Book: Andrew . Christopher . Christopher Andrew (historian) . Mitrokhin . Vasili . Vasili Mitrokhin . The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West . registration . Allen Lane History . 1 . . 2000-07-27 . 0-14-028487-7 . 42606302 . OL7352280M . . dmy-all.
  34. Web site: 'Russian spy poisoned me' says former double agent Gordievsky . . 6 April 2008.
  35. News: Близкие Гайдара скрывают, в какой больнице он находится, опасаясь за его жизнь (ВЕРСИИ отравления) . 30 November 2006 . ru . .
  36. News: Arrests over Russia writer murder. BBC News. 28 August 2007. 25 April 2010.
  37. Web site: Russia hints exile linked to murder. The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 August 2007.
  38. http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/624213BB-BE6C-4498-B70E-BB365A277C59.html Russia: Politkovskaya's Colleagues Dispute Official Investigation
  39. http://www.kommersant.com/p-11293/r_531/Berezovsky_murder/ Berezovsky Masterminded Murders of Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Tregubova, Lugovoy Said
  40. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7318969.stm Politkovskaya killer 'identified'
  41. "all measures are being taken to find and detain him". Генпрокуратура знает, кто стрелял в Политковскую. По нашим данным, киллером может быть 30-летний чеченец Рустам Махмудов Komsomolskaya Pravda 29 March 2007
  42. Web site: Vladimir Isachenkov. Rustam Makhmudov. HuffPost. 31 May 2011.
  43. see
  44. http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/24/00.html Agents of special services are among organizers of Politkovskaya assassination. However someone protects them by disclosing secret materials of the criminal case
  45. https://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSL18385556 Russia charges 3 men in Politkovskaya murder
  46. News: Walker. Shaun. Another arrest – but will we ever know who wanted Anna Politkovskaya dead?. 25 December 2012. The Independent. 17 July 2012. Moscow.
  47. http://www.gazeta.ru/news/social/2008/10/02/n_1277857.shtml Politkovskaya murder case sent to court
  48. Web site: Nowak . David . Birch . Douglas . 3 acquitted in brazen slaying of Russian reporter . https://web.archive.org/web/20110606084639/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_POLITKOVSKAYA?SITE=ORLAG&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT . dead . 6 June 2011 . 19 February 2009.
  49. Web site: PACE Rapporteur on failure of Moscow trail . Assembly . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090528114840/http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Press/StopPressView.asp?ID=2132 . 28 May 2009.
  50. News: Truth elusive in Politkovskaya case. BBC. 20 February 2009. 23 February 2009. Rupert. Wingfield-Hayes. https://web.archive.org/web/20090223134158/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7902381.stm. 23 February 2009 . live.
  51. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/06/25/russian.journalist.politkovskaya.trial/ Retrial for suspects in Politkovskaya murder case
  52. Russia: Assassin sentenced for journalist murder. Amnesty International. 14 December 2012. 10 June 2014.
  53. News: 14 November 2023 . Russia pardons ex-policeman convicted of journalist's murder . France 24 . 14 November 2023 .