“The power of evil is in its anonymity”

Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 63 on October 7. He celebrated his birthday in Sochi, playing hockey. Symbolically, columnist of Novaya gazeta Anna Politkovskaya was killed in Moscow on this very day nine years ago; she fought his regime and repeatedly criticized his actions in Chechnya.

“What is the reason for my dislike of Putin? It is this: his simplicity which is worse than robbery, his cynicism, his racism, the endless war, lies, gas attack during the Nord-Ost hostage crisis, and the corpses of innocent victims accompanying his entire first term. These victims could have lived,” she wrote in her book Putin’s Russia.

The only way to silence Politkovskaya was to kill her. The press put forward various versions of the crime, and one of them sees the author’s death as a “birthday gift” to the Russian ruler. Putin, in turn, did his best to disclaim any responsibility for what happened.

Novaya gazeta marked the latest murder anniversary by publishing article “Let Us Compare the Style.” It identifies matching features of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and that of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot in Moscow on February 27 this year. The text indicates 16 matches between the two crimes. They are almost identical. Most importantly, though, the instigators of both crimes have not been established yet.

Politkovskaya was born in New York on August 30, 1968. Her father Stepan Fedorovych Mazepa came from the village of Kostobobriv, Chernihiv oblast of Ukraine. He worked on the staff of the Ukrainian SSR’s mission at the UN. Her mother Raisa came from Crimea. In an interview with Novaya gazeta, published on the anniversary of Anna’s death, Raisa Politkovskaya said that Anna’s father “always understood that the daughter wrote the truth which could get her killed.”

Chief editor of Novaya gazeta Dmitry Muratov stressed this trait of his late colleague as well: “Politkovskaya did not discriminate when choosing enemies. Rather, she did not even choose them. She just always said and wrote what she thought. She had principles. Principled people are rare nowadays.”

Politkovskaya knew and understood how important it was to cross all the t’s. She made an offhand remark once, in a conversation with colleagues: “The power of evil is in its anonymity. Therefore, everything must be called its true name.” We can say that they put a hit on her for this very effort.

OCTOBER 10, 2006. NEAR THE EMBASSY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN KYIV  / Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day

The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna said in a Politkovskaya memorial message on Facebook: “I saw a T-shirt with a portrait of Putin and the inscription ‘I am already here’ being freely sold in Bulgaria, a NATO member, this year, and another being offered in Montenegro with the inscription ‘Everything is going according to the plan.’ With this look, Anna (nee Mazepa) seems to say: ‘People, people... Why do you fail to remember anything and learn your lessons so poorly?’”

This crime was a kind of warning to Russia and the rest of the world. The murder committed in Moscow on October 7, 2006 was more than a killing of a talented and brilliant journalist, for freedom of speech was killed on that day too. The signal was not heard then. Today’s Russian reality is a proof positive of that.

COMMENTARIES

“‘THE TRAGEDY WAS NO ACCIDENT, BUT RATHER A LOGICAL DEVELOPMENT”

Semen NOVOPRUDSKY, independent journalist (Moscow):

“Russians did not see the death of Politkovskaya as a landmark tragedy, because she was not the first journalist to be killed, and a few high-profile murders preceded her death.

“Politkovskaya is now remembered and revered in Europe, but more importantly, those Russian journalists who have not turned propagandists need to remember her. It is very important to have memorial events held in Russia. We also need at least some Russian politicians who would remind the authorities on that day that this murder has not been fully solved, and its instigators are still at large (there is no way, though, for any of the so-called ‘systemic’ politicians to do that). The saddest thing, however, is the lack of public pressure and control over investigations of such high-profile crimes. All major crimes of this kind go unpunished in Russia. The murder of Politkovskaya was no accident, but rather a logical development.”

“SHE WAS THE FORERUNNER OF THE TRUTH NOW BEING TOLD ABOUT THE EVENTS IN  DONBAS AND CRIMEA”

Yurii SHCHERBAK, writer, diplomat, journalist:

“Anna Politkovskaya had played a very significant role in Russia – she was the country’s conscience. Her murder on Putin’s birthday was not a coincidence. It was a sign that she held him back. And it means that Putin had ordered to kill her on that day and ‘bring her head’ as a gift to the monarch. And this means that certain forces that assert control over Putin to some extent had decided to perform that symbolic gesture in murdering this glorious, fearless woman who told the truth about Putin’s crimes in Chechnya. Politkovskaya, in what she was doing, was the forerunner of the truth now being told about the events in Donbas and Crimea. That was the truth about the brutal reality of Russian occupation, about the state terrorism which had been decimating the Chechen people. Now we see how it destroys Ukrainian citizens in Donbas.

“It is very important to remember Politkovskaya and never forget her.

“And I’m indifferent to the fact that Putin celebrated his birthday yesterday. Let it be his last political birthday. I would be happy if we never had to speak about him again, if he disappeared forever into oblivion and became the subject of historians. Putin is a man, whose will is the hate towards other people. Nowadays he makes his last turn on the road to his ignominious end   – by interfering in the Syrian war.”