On October 7, 2006, Anna Politkovskaya was shot in the elevator of her apartment building. She was a journalist for “Novaya Gazeta” and the author of books such as “The Second Chechen War” and “Putin’s Russia.”
First and last time I met Anna was in summer 2006. She became my only mentor and an example of the journalist I wanted to be. She said:
— “Sofia, you will be a great journalist. The secret of this profession is inside of you. Compassion and sensitivity are the keys. If you wanna become a good journalist, every investigation / research you’ll make, do it through your heart”.
It took me 17 years to gather courage and say “RIP, Anna… Only a coward can shoot a human in the back. And that’s what Putin is. A coward. We will avenge you. And everyone innocent he killed for his amusement…”
“I often wonder: whether Putin is even a human? Or is he an iron, icy frozen statue? I think about it and I cannot find the answer, that he’s a human being.” – Anna
Her maiden name was Mazepa (Ukrainian origin). She was born in 1958 in New York City into a family of diplomats. She graduated from the faculty of journalism at Moscow State University. She married Alexander Politkovsky, one of the leading figures at “Vzglyad” (a Russian TV channel). Since 1999, she worked as a special correspondent and observer for “Novaya Gazeta.” In 2000, her reports from Chechnya were awarded with the “Golden Pen of Russia.” In 2004, she conducted an interview with Ramzan Kadyrov, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya, who behaved rudely towards her.
“Cruelty is the most infectious disease prone to a pandemic. It is never a one-time occurrence.” – Anna
She was involved in human rights activities and investigated corruption in the Ministry of Defense. She helped the victims of the Nord-Ost hostage crisis and participated in negotiations with terrorists during the crisis, even bringing water to the hostages.
“Why do I dislike Putin? Well I dislike him for this: for the simplicity that is worse than thievery. For cynicism. For racism. For endless war. For lies. For the gas in ‘Nord-Ost.’ For the innocent deaths that accompanied his entire first term. Deaths that could not have happened.” – Anna
On September 2, 2004, she flew to Beslan. She wanted to act as a mediator in negotiations with the terrorists who had taken a school hostage. She lost consciousness on the plane after drinking tea and was hospitalized in Rostov-on-Don with a diagnosis of “poisoning by unknown toxins.” She suspected that she might have been poisoned by FSB agents.
“Putin, having accidentally obtained immense power in his hands, wielded it with catastrophic consequences for Russia. And I don’t like him because he doesn’t like people. He can’t stand us. He despises us. He believes that we are just a resource for him and only, nothing more… That he can destroy us as he pleases. That we are nobodies. While he, someone who accidentally rose to the top, is now a king and god, whom we must worship and fear.” – Anna
In 2021, the statute of limitations for the case of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder expired. The “mastermind” of the murder was never found.”
Sofia Tereshchenko.