Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist from Novaya Gazeta, was shot dead in the elevator of an apartment block in Moscow 20 years ago, on October 7, 2006. She has published many articles and several books on the human rights situation in Russia, including in the North Caucasus, including: in Chechnya. She also supported people whose rights were violated, especially in Chechnya.
Who was Anna Politkovskaya?
Her granddaughter flew to Strasbourg for the session of the European Parliament to pay tribute to her grandmother together with MEPs. Anna Victoria emphasized in an interview with PAP that the memory of Anna Politkovskaya's activities is particularly important today, because in Russia - in her opinion - this memory is gradually disappearing.
There is a whole generation of people who grew up not knowing who my grandmother was. Without seeing her on TV or watching her interviews, she admitted.
She added that growing up with her grandmother's surname was a "very surreal experience" that continues to this day. Over time, however, she realized that along with this name, she also received an obligation to uphold the journalist's values.
It is an obligation to defend freedom of speech, to defend those who cannot defend themselves, and to defend people who have difficulty talking about their own problems, she emphasized.
“No publishing house wants to republish them.”
The journalist's granddaughter said that one of the reasons why the memory of Politkovskaya is gradually fading in Russia is the lack of new publications of her books. Existing copies can be found primarily in private collections of people who bought them in the 2000s, when Politkovskaya's books were more widely available.
It is very difficult to print her books in Russia today. No publishing house wants to republish them, the interviewee admitted to PAP.
According to her, one of the reasons is the way Politkovskaya presented the war in Chechnya, which is inconsistent with the current Russian state narrative. Today, saying anything against the regime, against the government, against Putin can lead to a prison sentence. That's why it's much easier for people to just not talk about it, she added.
Not everyone has forgotten
At the same time - as she noted - there are people who try to keep the memory of the journalist alive.
An example is the marble plaque commemorating Politkovskaya, installed in 2006 after her assassination. As she said, it was destroyed many times. After one of the acts of vandalism, a group of mostly young people began to reinstall it and guard it.
They sat in the car in front of the plaque at night so that no one would destroy it again, said Anna Victoria. She added that the plaque was destroyed over 30 times, and subsequent attempts to restore it also ended in acts of vandalism.
But this small group of people who are still doing something and trying to restore her memory through this plaque makes me think that there is still hope, she emphasized.
Her mother and uncle are also involved in keeping Politkovskaya's memory alive. However, I think that today it is very important to also give the world a younger perspective, she said. As she said, she is a representative of Generation Z and wants to use her language and way of communication to talk about her grandmother to young people.
I want to carry the memory of my grandmother not only to older people, but also to younger generations, she said.
There is no independent media
When asked about the situation of independent journalism in today's Russia, Politkovskaya's granddaughter said that the space for such media to operate is becoming smaller.
As she said, until recently, Novaya Gazeta operated relatively normally in Moscow, although it was subject to repression and could not publish all information. However, in September it was recognized as the so-called foreign agent, which further limited its activities.
Currently, Russian media are virtually deprived of independence, she said. She added that most independent newsrooms moved their operations abroad after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
There are very few independent journalists who still remain in Russia. Those who are there act very discreetly and quietly, because they know that the moment they stop being silent, they will suffer real consequences, she noted.
For Politkovskaya's granddaughter, the most important lesson from her grandmother's work is the need to look at events not through the prism of numbers, but through specific human stories.
