A Fearless Journalist
Anna Politkovskaya, Russia’s Anya, was shot to death in her own apartment building a year ago on October 7, 2006. The prominent journalist was recognized worldwide as a fearless reporter and a tireless campaigner for human rights. She was one of 12 journalists murdered since 2000 in a country that the Committee to Protect Journalists calls one of the deadliest in the world for reporters. Politkovskaya was a special correspondent for an independent Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. A Russian Diary is a compilation of her writings and records life under President Vladimir Putin’s rule from December 2003 to the summer of 2005. She finished this novel just before her death.
A Book for the People
Although the book’s title suggests it is a personal diary, it is not a typical memoir. In the style of a true journalist, Politkovskaya records political and social turmoil in Russia without commenting on the pressure her writing has brought to her own life and safety. Although she does not always remain objective, telling the reader of her opinions of corrupt politicians and a president who will stop at nothing in his hunger for power, her unwavering search for the truth is nonetheless remarkable.
A Russian Diary is an engaging read, divided into three parts that mark Russia’s political transformation under Putin’s rule. Politkovskaya is careful to remind the reader that her perception of Russia is not shared by everyone, especially the wealthy and powerful citizens of Russia. Although her opinions and stories may not be popular in her home country, she believed that her outrage must be shared by others who have silently watched Russia return to its Soviet ways.
Interviews with Russia’s Voiceless
Anna Politkovskaya did not neglect to interview Russia’s forgotten citizens when she wrote accounts of the sieges of the Nord-Ost Theater or Beslan School No. 1. She did not forget about the mothers and widows of missing soldiers in Chechnya and Ingushetia. And while she gave a voice to the powerless, she also did not forget to remain a balanced reporter, risking her life several times to interview top commanders and leaders in Chechnya. A Russian Diary is not full of unsubstantiated political complaints.
Politkovskaya is as easily critical of Putin’s opposition leaders as she is of him. But it is her interviews with the Russian people—those most affected by acts of terrorism, corruption, and the Chechen War, that make this novel an exemplary account of the heart of Russia, the people.
Questions Remain One Year Later
Although Anna Politkovskaya’s murder garnered international attention and outrage, the Russian government has not yet answered questions that remain unsolved. The active investigation into her murder by the Kremlin was unusual for a journalist. This response is largely because of the West’s reactions to the murder of a renowned and beloved journalist. Several human rights and journalism organizations have continued to petition the Russian government to find her murderers, or more importantly, the people who ordered her killed. A Russian Diary offers glimpses into the threats that Politkovskaya received, and can be chilling for readers who know that these were her last written words.
“So far there is no sign of change. The state authorities remain deaf to all warnings from the people. They live their own life, their faces permanently twisted by greed and by irritation that anybody should try to prevent them from getting even richer. In order to head off that possibility, their priority is to cripple civil society.” –A Russian Diary
To this date, A Russian Diary is not being published in Russia.
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