Activists have once again restored the memorial plaque on Politkovskaya's house.

A few hours after the fourth plaque disappeared, activists installed a new temporary plaque at the entrance to the building where Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya lived and was murdered.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on January 18, vandals smashed a memorial plaque bearing her name on Lesnaya Street in Moscow, at the building where Novaya Gazeta columnist Anna Politkovskaya lived and was murdered. Activists from the "Civil Initiative" group replaced the 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 was fined 1,000 rubles, although he denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the plaque "fell and broke on its own." By January 22, activists had replaced the broken plaque again, but the temporary plaque had been destroyed for the third time, and a resident of Politkovskaya's building reported that the temporary plaques had been intentionally destroyed. A third temporary plaque was installed on the evening of January 23, and its disappearance was reported on January 24. This time, the plaque, which repeats the text written on the plaque that had been there, was attached to a rope on a wall flagpole, according to a video published late in the evening of January 24 by RusNews. It's placed higher than the original memorial plaque—the girl who placed it was held in her arms.

"Today they hung it with a rope, before that with glue, before that with tape. While they're tearing it down, we'll be restoring it. Of course, we need to try other methods, but the ideal option is to restore the original plaque," said one activist.

"There are many caring people who are willing to contribute to this. We want Politkovskaya's memory to remain here, in this house. This is something I want to do—many people need moral support and the belief that there is someone who will hang this plaque again and again," another activist is quoted as saying in the publication.

Anna Politkovskaya's ex-husband, journalist Alexander Politkovsky, believes that tearing down this plaque is "stupid in itself." "Even though someone told me that the residents themselves are doing this. However, I don't know for sure," RTVI quoted him as saying in a January 22nd publication. He stated that he does not intend to contact law enforcement regarding this matter.

Politkovsky rejected the idea of ​​moving the memorial plaque, explaining that "there is no other place [for it]." "She was killed there. And that's why they put up this plaque, saying she lived there, wrote her last books, and was killed there. Of course, there's also the apartment on Herzen Street, on Ostozhenka, where we lived. We lived in several places, but the plaque they're tearing down is specifically about where she lived and where she was killed," he added.

Anna Politkovskaya, known for her articles on the war and human rights violations in Chechnya, was killed in Moscow on October 7, 2006. The court found that Lom-Ali Gaitukayev had orchestrated the murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Rustam Makhmudov has been identified as the direct perpetrator, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Murder of Anna Politkovskaya".

Anna Politkovskaya's 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.

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.

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 Natalia Estemirova, who was killed in 2009 and also worked on the problems of the residents of Chechnya.

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.