The third memorial plaque on Politkovskaya's house was destroyed.

Activists have again replaced the broken memorial plaque on Anna Politkovskaya's house in Moscow, but the temporary plaque has been destroyed again. A Muscovite fined for breaking the plaque called the damage an accident, while a resident of Politkovskaya's building claimed the temporary plaques were deliberately destroyed.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on January 18, vandals smashed a memorial plaque bearing her name on Lesnaya Street in Moscow, the building where Novaya Gazeta columnist Anna Politkovskaya lived and was murdered. Activists from the "Civil Initiative" movement replaced the damaged plaque with a temporary one, but on January 19, it, too, was destroyed. Representatives of a far-right organization designated as terrorist claimed involvement in the destruction of the first plaque. The man who smashed a memorial plaque has been fined 1,000 rubles.

The plaque on the building at 8/12 Lesnaya Street in Moscow, where Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya lived and was murdered, has been destroyed for the third time. Some of the flowers Muscovites had previously brought to the plaque were also removed, the Telegram channel "Beware, News" reported today.

The plaque was restored by representatives of the Civil Initiative party. The party stated on its Telegram channel that activists had raised money for its restoration.

"We will carry this memory forward and will do everything we can, despite the fact that some cowards who smash plaques at night will try to stop it," RusNews quoted one of the party activists as saying on January 19.

"In the city of Moscow, which is dotted with cameras and smart intercoms, for some reason, two kilometers from the Kremlin, they can't find who did this [smashing the plaques]. We will not allow anyone to denigrate the memory of Anna Politkovskaya or try to erase her." — the activist said.

A man fined for breaking a memorial plaque said the damage was an accident

Alexander Filippov, who was fined for breaking a memorial plaque, pleaded not guilty in court and said the damage was accidental.

In court, he pleaded not guilty and said the damage was accidental. "Since he had a religious upbringing and was born in Moscow, he decided to clean up the trash and throw out the flowers, did not touch the plaque, did not intentionally tear it down, and it fell and broke," RIA Novosti quotes the case materials. Filippov added that he didn't know where to turn in such cases, so he simply moved on.

When sentencing, Filippov asked the court to consider that he is supporting his mother, who is currently bedridden, and his stepfather, who has difficulty walking after a stroke and has stated his willingness to pay compensation, according to "Horizontal Russia 7x7" (listed as a foreign agent).

"I wonder if accidentally knocking over Andropov's plaque on Lubyanka Square while removing wilted flowers will also result in a 1,000 ruble fine, or are our laws applied differently?" - Fox asked in the comments to the post.

One of the residents of the building previously stated that she had destroyed the temporary plaque. "Yes, I am breaking it! And who gave you permission to put it up? She didn't live here, she had a safe house! This is my house! I didn't give you permission!" she said in a video published by RusNews.

The woman claimed that she wasn't the one who broke the original plaque, but that the plaque "was always in her way."

As a reminder, Anna Politkovskaya, known for her articles on the war and human rights violations in Chechnya, was murdered in Moscow on October 7, 2006. The court found that Lom-Ali Gaitukayev organized the murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Rustam Makhmudov was found to be the direct perpetrator, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Murder of Anna Politkovskaya".

In In 2025, on the 19th anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya's murder, residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg brought flowers to her grave, the Novaya Gazeta office, and the memorial to the victims of repression. Some of those convicted in her murder have already been released, but the mastermind behind the killing has never been convicted, Politkovskaya's colleagues recalled.

Last Interview Anna Politkovskaya gave to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent an hour and a half before her death. In this interview, the journalist commented on Ramzan Kadyrov's career prospects.

On the fifth anniversary of Politkovskaya's murder, journalists and human rights activists at a rally in Tbilisi highlighted her contribution to the fight for freedom of speech, demanding that those who ordered her murder be identified.

"Caucasian Knot" is publishing materials dedicated to Politkovskaya on the thematic page "Politkovskaya and Estemirova", which also contains materials about Anna's friend, journalist and human rights activist Natalya Estemirova, who was killed in 2009 and also worked on the problems of residents Chechnya.