February 02, 2026

Vandalism at a Murder Site


Vandalism at a Murder Site
Grief won’t bring back those who were killed. The Russian Life files

In recent months, a memorial plaque for murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been torn down numerous times, only to be replaced by activists.

The first incident took place on January 18, when the original plaque to Politkovskaya was destroyed. The court found a certain Alexander Filippov guilty and fined him R1,000 (about $13). 

The day after the plaque was destroyed, activists installed a new, temporary one made of foam board, but it too was soon torn down by unknown persons. The situation began to repeat itself over and over again; responsibility for the destruction was claimed by both residents of the building and neo-Nazi groups.

On January 27, the Telegram channel “Ostrozhno, novosti” reported that the plaque had been torn down for a seventh time. According to state-run newspaper Kommersant, representatives of the Yabloko party intend to join the fight for the plaque and have already put up a new one.

"While the existence of this plaque did not bother many people for many years, today its destruction persistently brings back into the public eye the very fact of the murder that took place in the elevator of this building,” said Alexander Politkovsky, husband of the journalist.

Politkovskaya wrote about crimes in Chechnya for Novaya Gazeta and the investigation into her murder concluded that the motive was grounded in her professional activities. A stone plaque was installed on her apartment building's façade on the first anniversary of the tragedy, in 2007. 

Today, nearly 20 years after her murder, the memory of the crime has become a battleground between two irreconcilable political camps, and it is unfolding at 8 Lesnaya Street in Moscow. Notably, one of the accomplices to the crime, former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, was freed from prison to participate in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was not only pardoned, but received an order for bravery in 2023.

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