Famed Russian journalist is killed

MOSCOW — As one of the most fearless critics of the Russian government's handling of the Chechen war, journalist Anna Politkovskaya had received numerous threats on her life.

Politkovskaya chronicled the killings, tortures and beatings of civilians by Russian servicemen in Chechnya in reports that put her on a collision course with the authorities but won her numerous international awards.

She also wrote a book critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military campaign in Chechnya, documenting widespread abuse of civilians by government troops.

In "Putin's Russia," Politkovskaya wrote of the war's effect on the country.

"More than a million soldiers and officers have passed through the Chechnya experience. Poisoned by a war on their own territory, they have become a serious factor affecting civilian life. They can no longer simply be left out of the social equation."

Saturday, she was found shot dead in an elevator in her apartment building in central Moscow — the victim of what prosecutors say could be a targeted killing over her investigative reporting.

"There are journalists who have this fate hanging over them. I always thought something would happen to Anya, first of all because of Chechnya," said Oleg Panfilov, director of the Moscow-based Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, referring to Politkovskaya by her nickname.

Prosecutors have opened a murder investigation into Politkovskaya's slaying, said Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for the Moscow prosecutor's office.

Vyacheslav Rosinsky, Moscow's first deputy prosecutor, said on state-run Rossiya television that a pistol and bullets were found at the scene of the crime. The RIA-Novosti news agency, citing police officials, reported that Politkovskaya was shot twice, the second time in the head.

The ITAR-Tass news agency reported that work was under way on a composite sketch of the attacker based on footage recorded by a security camera at the building. The assailant, believed to have acted alone, wore black, Panfilov said.

He said Politkovskaya had frequently received threats and a few months ago unknown assailants had tried unsuccessfully to break into a car her daughter, Vera, was driving.