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Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was born in August 30, 1958 in New York to a family of Soviet diplomats of Ukrainian origin, Stepan Mazepa.. Some sources say that she was born in Chernigov region of Ukraine. Politkovskaya graduated Moscow state University in 1980 with the major of Journalism.
In 1982-93 Anna Politkovskaya worked for two newspapers: Izvestya (News) and Vozdushny Transport (Airline Trasportation), as well as in journalist corporation Eskart and as an observer in the newspaper Megapolis-Express.
In 1994-99 she was the editor of a columnist of the Obshaya Gazeta (Common Newspaper) and in 1999 she was invited to work as an observer to an independent (one of very few) newspaper Novaya Gazeta (New newspaper). She worked ther until her death Since then Anna Politkovskaya made many trips to hot places in and zones of military conflicts in Russia, and refugees’ camps. She used to be in Dagestan, Ingushetya, then (since the beginning of the first Chechen war in September 1999) in Chechnya.
Beyond her basic job, she spends a lot of time for humanitarian activity helping soldier mothers to make requests and lawsuits to the court. She also made independent investigation about corruption in the Defense Ministry and high-ranking officers in Federal army in Chechnya. In November 1999 she organized evacuation of 89 residents of Grozny Nursing Home (ethnic Russians) from the war zone, and helped to settle them in various regions of Russia. Unfortunately, in summer 2000, 22 elderly from this nursing home where returned to Grozny. Politkovskaya wrote that time: “[the action was] to demonstrate to the world that the conflict in Chechnya is over”. It was a big and cynical lie. The elderly found themselves without water, medication, food and clothes. On her initiative, Novaya Gazeta collected 5.5 tons of humanitarian aid and 5000 dollars to help them.
Politkovskaya sharply critizied The Kremlin and personally Putin for extremly cruel and with fabricated reason war in Chechnya. During her trips in war-torn Chechnya she spoke with swvwral Generals of the Russian Army. She asked them " Why do you caaled this war
They mrachno answered that it is not, it is an agression"
In October 2002 Anna Politkovskaya participated in negotiation with Chechens, who kidnapped the theater in Moscow ("Dubrovka"). On October 25, Politkovskaya arrived to headquarter on "Lliberation of hostages", and talked with kidneppers by phone. Then, together with Doctor Leonid Roshal she was allowed into the building of the Theater. They handed fresh water and other food and drinks to the hostages, and put the hope for liberation into them. But the Kremlin scrued up what could be the negotiations and liberatin.
Whe the terrible tragedy happend in Beslan (North Ossetya) school in 2004, Politkovskaya headed to Beslan in hope to speak with thge terrorists and to prevent the final tragedy. She was heavily poisonned in the Plane and put in one of the Russian hospital, instead of arriving in beslan. By miracle she survived.
Anna Politkovskaya is the author of a few books dedicated to the catastrophic situation in Chechnya. Some are translated into foreign languages. Among them: “ The travel to the Hell”, “Chechen Diary”, “Chechnya is a shame for Russia”, “The second Chechen war”, “Putin’s Russia”, “Russia without Putin”.
Anna Politkovska is a laureate of several Russian and International awards ion journalism. For a series of reports from Chechnya in January 2000, the ‘Golden Pen of Russia’ awarded her. Her international awards are:
ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA FUND
biography
