115-650: The Anna Politkovskaya Award was established in 2006 to remember and honor the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya (1958–2006), murdered in Moscow on 7 October 2006 in order to silence her reporting about the war in Chechnya. The award is presented annually by the international human rights organisation RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in War), and honours women human rights defenders from around
230-431: A mock execution after being arrested by the military in Chechnya. Early in 2001, Politkovskaya was detained by military officials in the southern mountain village of Khattuni . She was investigating complaints from 90 Chechen families about "punitive raids" by federal forces. She interviewed a Chechen grandmother from the village of Tovzeni, Rosita, who endured 12 days of beatings, electric shocks , and confinement in
345-644: A music school and trained figure skating ; according to her mother, she was noted for her frequent use of the local Krupskaya Library. She graduated from Moscow State University 's school of journalism in 1980 with a thesis about the poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva . The faculty head at the time was Yasen Zasurskii [ ru ] , a close friend of the Mazepas and their frequent guest in New York. She married fellow student Alexander Politkovsky in 1978; by 1981 they had two children, Ilya and Vera. At first Alexander
460-574: A Chechen civilian detainee, the case exposed by Politkovskaya in her article "Disappearing People". A former fellow officer of Lapin's was among the suspects in Politkovskaya's murder, on the theory that the motive might have been revenge for her part in Lapin's conviction. In 2004, Politkovskaya had a conversation with Ramzan Kadyrov , then Prime Minister of Chechnya. One of his assistants said to her, "Someone ought to have shot you back in Moscow, right on
575-477: A December 2005 conference on the freedom of the press in Vienna organized by Reporters Without Borders , she said "People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think. In fact, one can even get killed for giving me information. I am not the only one in danger. I have examples that prove it." She often received death threats as a result of her work, including being threatened with rape and experiencing
690-806: A Russian-language night school in Kerch after the war while serving in the fleet . By 1952, her father was admitted to study at an institute in Moscow, and her parents married there. Her father was appointed to the Ukrainian delegation at the United Nations during the Khrushchev era . He became a founding member of the Special Committee against Apartheid in 1962, and served as its secretary as late as 1974. Her parents bought an apartment in central Moscow in 1962 and Politkovskaya mostly grew up there. She attended
805-548: A broader account of her views and experiences after former KGB lieutenant colonel Vladimir Putin became Boris Yeltsin 's Prime Minister, and then succeeded him as President of Russia. This included Putin's pursuit of the Second Chechen War . In the book, she accused the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) of stifling all civil liberties to establish a Soviet-style dictatorship, but admitted: [It]
920-577: A good natural harbor, great naval base and the largest city on the peninsula. At the head of Sevastopol Bay stands Inkermann /Kalamita. South of Sevastopol is the small Heracles Peninsula . South: In the south, between the Crimean Mountains and the sea runs a narrow coastal strip which was held by the Genoese and (after 1475) by the Turks. Under Russian rule it became a kind of riviera . In Soviet times
1035-520: A great slave-mart and a kind of capital for the Genoese and Turks. Unlike the other southern ports, Feodosia has no mountains to its north. At the east end of the 90 km (56 mi) Kerch Peninsula is Kerch / Panticapaeum , once the capital of the Bosporian Kingdom . Just south of Kerch the new Crimean Bridge (opened in 2018) connects Crimea to the Taman Peninsula . Sea of Azov: There
1150-451: A high security penal colony. In May 2014, five men were convicted of murdering Politkovskaya, including three defendants who had been acquitted in a previous trial. The defendants were three Chechen brothers, one of whom was accused of shooting Politkovskaya in the lobby of her Moscow apartment building. In June 2014 the men were sentenced to prison, two of them, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev and his nephew Rustam Makhmudov, receiving life sentences. It
1265-529: A jury (a rare occurrence in Russia) and, after the jurors insisted, was open to the press and public. On 25 November 2008, it was reported that Politkovskaya's murder might have been ordered by a politician inside Russia. Murad Musayev, a lawyer for the men on trial, told journalists that the case notes—as one of the interpretations of the crime—mentioned that a politician, based in Russia (but not named in those notes),
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#17328878772091380-504: A large posthumous collection of Anna's articles, entitled With Good Reason , was published by Novaya Gazeta and launched at the Gorbachev Foundation in Moscow. The event came soon after the birth of Anna's namesake grandchild: Vera's daughter was named Anna in honor of her grandmother. A few months later, 10 men were detained on suspicion of various degrees of involvement in Politkovskaya's murder. Four of them were brought before
1495-503: A moderate continental climate with short but cold winters and moderately hot dry summers. In the central and mountainous areas the climate is transitional between the continental climate to the north and the Mediterranean climate to the south. Winters are mild at lower altitudes (in the foothills) and colder at higher altitudes. Summers are hot at lower altitudes and warm in the mountains. A subtropical, Mediterranean climate dominates
1610-461: A note to the book. "Who killed Anna and who lay beyond her killer remains unknown", wrote Jon Snow , the main news anchor for the United Kingdom's Channel 4 in his foreword to the book's UK edition. "Her murder robbed too many of us of absolutely vital sources of information and contact", he concluded, "Yet it may, ultimately, be seen to have at least helped prepare the way for the unmasking of
1725-432: A personal account of Russia for a Western readership. On 7 October 2006 (notably, on the 54th birthday of Russian president Vladimir Putin ), she was murdered in the elevator of her block of apartments, an assassination that attracted international attention . In 2014, five men were sentenced to prison for the murder, but it is still unclear who ordered or paid for the contract killing . Anna Mazepa Politkovskaya
1840-548: A pit. The men who arrested Rosita presented themselves as FSB-employees. The torturers requested a ransom from Rosita's relatives, who negotiated a smaller amount that they were able to pay. Another interviewee described killings and rapes of Chechen men in a "concentration camp with a commercial streak" near the village of Khattuni. Upon leaving the camp, Politkovskaya was detained, interrogated, beaten, and humiliated: "The young officers tortured me, skillfully hitting my sore-spots. They looked through my children's pictures, making
1955-463: A point of saying what they would like to do to the kids. This went on for about three hours." She was subjected to a mock execution using a BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket system , then poisoned with a cup of tea that made her vomit. Her tape-records were confiscated. She described her mock execution: A lieutenant colonel with a swarthy face and dull dark bulging eyes said in a businesslike tone: "Let's go. I'm going to shoot you." He led me out of
2070-607: A top-secret document released by Edward Snowden with a screenshot of Intellipedia according to which: Crimea Crimea ( / k r aɪ ˈ m iː ə / kry- MEE -ə ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe , on the northern coast of the Black Sea , almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov . The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine . To
2185-668: A tributary of the Salhyr), the Uchan-su , and the Ulu-Uzen'. The longest river of Crimea is the Salhyr at 204 km (127 mi). The Belbek has the greatest average discharge at 2.16 cubic metres per second (76 cu ft/s). The Alma and the Kacha are the second- and third-longest rivers. There are more than fifty salt lakes and salt pans on the peninsula. The largest of them is Lake Sasyk (Сасык) on
2300-711: Is a major waterway and transportation route that crosses the European continent from north to south and ultimately links the Black Sea with the Baltic Sea , of strategic importance since the historical trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks . The Black Sea serves as an economic thoroughfare connecting the Caucasus region and the Caspian Sea to central and Eastern Europe. According to
2415-530: Is flanked at a distance of 8–12 kilometres (5.0–7.5 mi) from the sea by a parallel range of mountains: the Crimean Mountains. These mountains are backed by secondary parallel ranges . The main range of these mountains rises with extraordinary abruptness from the deep floor of the Black Sea to an altitude of 600–1,545 metres (1,969–5,069 ft), beginning at the southwest point of the peninsula, called Cape Fiolent . Some Greek myths state that this cape
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#17328878772092530-576: Is from the Italian form, la Crimea , since at least the 17th century and the "Crimean peninsula" becomes current during the 18th century, gradually replacing the classical name of Tauric Peninsula in the course of the 19th century. In English usage since the early modern period the Crimean Khanate is referred to as Crim Tartary . Today, the Crimean Tatar name of the peninsula is Qırım , while
2645-608: Is little on the south shore. The west shore is marked by the Arabat Spit . Behind it is the Syvash or "Putrid Sea", a system of lakes and marshes which in the far north extend west to the Perekop Isthmus. Road- and rail-bridges cross the northern part of Syvash. Interior: Most of the former capitals of Crimea stood on the north side of the mountains. Mangup /Doros (Gothic, Theodoro). Bakhchysarai (1532–1783). Southeast of Bakhchysarai
2760-628: Is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea and on the western coast of the Sea of Azov ; the only land border is shared with Ukraine's Kherson Oblast on the north. Crimea is almost an island and only connected to the continent by the Isthmus of Perekop , a strip of land about 5–7 kilometres (3.1–4.3 mi) wide. Much of the natural border between the Crimean Peninsula and the Ukrainian mainland comprises
2875-780: Is rare for the weather to drop below freezing except in the mountains, where there is usually snow. In July mean temperatures range from 15.4 °C (59.7 °F) in Ai-Petri to 23.4 °C (74.1 °F) in the central parts of Crimea to 24.4 °C (75.9 °F) in Myskhor. The frost-free period ranges from 160 to 200 days in the steppe and mountain regions to 240–260 days on the south coast. Precipitation in Crimea varies significantly based on location; it ranges from 310 millimetres (12.2 in) in Chornomorske to 1,220 millimetres (48.0 in) at
2990-632: Is said by Politkovsky to have worked temporarily as a cleaner at the Mayakovsky Theatre . However, after the spell at Izvestia she soon held another internship at the Vozdushnyi transport ( Воздушный транспорт , the in-house magazine of the Ministry of Civil Aviation ), as a reporter and editor of the Aeroflot emergencies and accidents section. As recalled by Politkovsky, her first travel assignment
3105-554: Is still unclear who ordered or paid for the contract killing. In September 2016, Vladimir Markin , official spokesman for the Investigative Committee, included the killing of Anna Politkovskaya among the Most Dramatic Crimes in 21st century Russia and claimed that it had been solved. Her colleagues at Novaya gazeta protested that until the instigator or sponsor of the crime was identified, arrested and prosecuted
3220-484: Is the cliff-fort of Chufut-Kale /Qirq Or which was used in more warlike times. Simferopol /Ak-Mechet, the modern capital. Karasu-Bazar /Bilohorsk was a commercial center. Solkhat/ Staryi Krym was the old Tatar capital. Towns on the northern steppe area are all modern, notably Dzhankoi , a major road- and rail-junction. Rivers: The longest is the Salhyr , which rises southeast of Simferopol and flows north and northeast to
3335-511: Is the internet, where information is still freely available. For the rest, if you want to go on working as a journalist, it's total servility to Putin. Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial—whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit. "People often tell me that I am a pessimist, that I don't believe in the strength of the Russian people, that I am obsessive in my opposition to Putin and see nothing beyond that", she opens an essay titled "Am I Afraid?", finishing it—and
3450-535: Is we who are responsible for Putin's policies ... [s]ociety has shown limitless apathy ... [a]s the Chekists have become entrenched in power, we have let them see our fear, and thereby have only intensified their urge to treat us like cattle. The KGB respects only the strong. The weak it devours. We of all people ought to know that. She also wrote: We are hurtling back into a Soviet abyss, into an information vacuum that spells death from our own ignorance. All we have left
3565-680: The Beslan school hostage crisis erupted in the North Caucasus in early September 2004, Politkovskaya attempted to fly there to act as a mediator, but was taken off the plane, acutely ill due to an attempted poisoning, in Rostov-on-Don (see #Poisoning ). In Moscow, Politkovskaya was not invited to press-conferences or gatherings that Kremlin officials might attend, in case the organizers were suspected of harboring sympathies toward her. Despite this, many top officials allegedly talked to her when she
Anna Politkovskaya Award - Misplaced Pages Continue
3680-628: The Byzantine Empire (341–1204 CE), the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461 CE), and the independent Principality of Theodoro (ended 1475 CE). In the 13th century, some Crimean port cities were controlled by the Venetians and by the Genovese , but the interior was much less stable, enduring a long series of conquests and invasions . In the medieval period, it was partially conquered by Kievan Rus' whose prince
3795-541: The International Transport Workers' Federation , as of 2013 there were at least 12 operating merchant seaports in Crimea. In 2016 Crimea had Nominal GDP of US$ 7 billion and US$ 3,000 per capita. The main branches of the modern Crimean economy are agriculture and fishing oysters pearls, industry and manufacturing, tourism, and ports. Industrial plants are situated for the most part in the southern coast (Yevpatoria, Sevastopol, Feodosia, Kerch) regions of
3910-529: The Moscow District Military Court in October 2008. Three men were charged with directly aiding Politkovskaya's killer, who was allegedly the brother of two of the suspects. There was insufficient evidence to charge the fourth man—an FSB colonel—with the murder, though he was suspected of a leading role in its organization; he stood trial at the same time for another offence. The case was held before
4025-700: The Russian Empire annexed Crimea . Crimea's strategic position led to the 1854 Crimean War and many short lived regimes following the 1917 Russian Revolution . When the Bolsheviks secured Crimea, it became an autonomous soviet republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic . It was occupied by Germany during World War II . When the Soviets retook it in 1944, Crimean Tatars were ethnically cleansed and deported under
4140-423: The Second Chechen War (1999–2005). It was her reporting from Chechnya that made her national and international reputation. For seven years, she refused to give up reporting on the war despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence. Politkovskaya was arrested by Russian military forces in Chechnya and subjected to a mock execution . She was poisoned while flying from Moscow via Rostov-on-Don to help resolve
4255-620: The September 11 attacks on the United States, welcomed Putin's contribution to their " War on Terror ". She talked to officials, the military and the police and also frequently visited hospitals and refugee camps in Chechnya and in neighboring Ingushetia to interview those injured and uprooted by the renewed fighting. In numerous articles critical of the war in Chechnya and the pro-Russian regime there, Politkovskaya described alleged abuses committed by Russian military forces, Chechen rebels, and
4370-518: The St Petersburg publishing house Paritet, founded in 1992 . Politkovskaya's career took off with the decline of her husband's influence following the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis . From 1994 to 1999, she worked as the assistant chief editor of Obshchaya Gazeta [ ru ] , headed by Yegor Yakovlev , where she wrote frequently about social problems, particularly the plight of refugees. From June 1999 to 2006, she wrote columns for
4485-633: The Strait of Kerch as the Κιμμερικὸς Βόσπορος ( Kimmerikos Bosporos , romanized spelling: Bosporus Cimmerius ), its easternmost part as the Κιμμέριον Ἄκρον ( Kimmerion Akron , Roman name: Promontorium Cimmerium), as well as to the city of Cimmerium and thence the name of the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Κιμμερικοῦ Βοσπόρου). The recorded history of Crimea begins around 5th century BCE when several Greek colonies were established on its south coast ,
4600-676: The Syvash or "Rotten Sea", a large system of shallow lagoons stretching along the western shore of the Sea of Azov. Besides the isthmus of Perekop, the peninsula is connected to the Kherson Oblast's Henichesk Raion by bridges over the narrow Chonhar and Henichesk straits and over Kerch Strait to the Krasnodar Krai . The northern part of Arabat Spit is administratively part of Henichesk Raion in Kherson Oblast, including its two rural communities of Shchaslyvtseve and Strilkove . The eastern tip of
4715-577: The Tauric Peninsula until the early modern period , Crimea has historically been at the boundary between the classical world and the steppe . Greeks colonized its southern fringe and were absorbed by the Roman and Byzantine Empires and successor states while remaining culturally Greek. Some cities became trading colonies of Genoa , until conquered by the Ottoman Empire . Throughout this time
Anna Politkovskaya Award - Misplaced Pages Continue
4830-477: The "Chechen Stalin of our days". Politkovskaya was found dead in the lift, in her block of apartments in central Moscow on 7 October 2006, Putin's birthday. She had been shot twice in the chest, once in the shoulder, and once in the head at close range. There was widespread international reaction to the assassination . The funeral was held on 10 October 2006 at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in
4945-549: The 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis , and had to turn back, requiring careful medical treatment in Moscow to restore her health. Her post-1999 articles about conditions in Chechnya were turned into books several times; Russian readers' main access to her investigations and publications was through Novaya Gazeta , a Russian newspaper that featured critical investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. From 2000 onwards, she received numerous international awards for her work. In 2004, she published Putin's Russia ,
5060-611: The 2015 Nobel Prize laureate in literature. A group of more than 100 influential cultural and political leaders joined the Committee of Supporters for the RAW in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Award. Among them are: Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya ( née Mazepa ; 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian investigative journalist who reported on political and social events in Russia, in particular,
5175-642: The Assembly called on the Russian Parliament closely to monitor the progress in the criminal investigations regarding the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and hold the authorities accountable for any failures to investigate or prosecute. The closure of the trial yesterday can only be regarded as a blatant failure. I call on the Russian authorities and Parliament to relaunch a proper investigation and shed light on this murder, which undermines not only freedom of expression in Russia, but also its democratic foundation based on
5290-569: The Belgian police – arrested the man suspected of killing Anna Politkovskaya, after he was detained in the Chechen Republic and transported to Moscow for questioning. After all three men were acquitted of Politkovskaya's murder in February 2009, her children Vera and Ilya, their lawyers Karinna Moskalenko and Anna Stavitskaya , and senior Novaya Gazeta editor Sergei Sokolov gave their reaction to
5405-783: The Crimean peninsula comprises the Kerch Peninsula , separated from Taman Peninsula on the Russian mainland by the Kerch Strait , which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, at a width of between 3–13 kilometres (1.9–8.1 mi). Geographers generally divide the peninsula into three zones: the steppe , the Crimean Mountains , and the Southern Coast . Given its long history and many conquerors, most towns in Crimea have several names. West: The Isthmus of Perekop / Perekop / Or Qapi , about 7 km (4 mi) wide, connects Crimea to
5520-455: The Crimean steppes. The terrain that lies south of the sheltering Crimean Mountain range is of an altogether different character. Here, the narrow strip of coast and the slopes of the mountains are covered with greenery. This "riviera" stretches along the southeast coast from capes Fiolent and Aya , in the south, to Feodosia. There are many summer sea-bathing resorts such as Alupka , Yalta , Gurzuf , Alushta , Sudak , and Feodosia . During
5635-407: The Great's incorporation of the Crimea in 1783 into the Russian Empire increased Russia's power in the Black Sea area. From 1853 to 1856, the strategic position of the peninsula in controlling the Black Sea meant that it was the site of the principal engagements of the Crimean War , where Russia lost to a French-led alliance. During the Russian Civil War , Crimea changed hands many times and
5750-435: The Russian is Крым ( Krym ), and the Ukrainian is Крим ( Krym ). The city Staryi Krym ('Old Crimea'), served as a capital of the Crimean province of the Golden Horde . Between 1315 and 1329 CE, the Arab writer Abū al-Fidā recounted a political fight in 1300–1301 CE which resulted in a rival's decapitation and his head being sent "to the Crimea", apparently in reference to the peninsula, although some sources hold that
5865-443: The Russian lieutenant colonel said to her: "Here's the banya . Take off your clothes." Seeing that his words had no effect, he got very angry: "A real lieutenant colonel is courting you, and you say no, you militant bitch." In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights found the Russian Federation responsible for the forced disappearance of a suspected Ingush militant, Khadzhi-Murat Yandiyev . Colonel-General Alexander Baranov ,
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#17328878772095980-404: The Russian-backed administration led by Akhmad Kadyrov and his son Ramzan Kadyrov . She also chronicled human rights abuses and policy failures elsewhere in the North Caucasus . In one characteristic instance in 1999, she not only wrote about the plight of an ethnically-mixed old peoples' home under bombardment in Grozny , but helped to secure the safe evacuation of its elderly inhabitants with
6095-408: The Sea of Azov. The Alma flows west to reach the Black Sea between Yevpatoria and Sevastopol. The shorter Chornaya flows west to Sevastopol Bay. Nearby: East of the Kerch Strait the Ancient Greeks founded colonies at Phanagoria (at the head of Taman Bay ), Hermonassa (later Tmutarakan and Taman ), Gorgippia (later a Turkish port and now Anapa). At the northeast point of the Sea of Azov at
6210-426: The Soviets regained control in 1944, they deported the Crimean Tartars and several other nationalities to elsewhere in the USSR. The autonomous republic was dissolved in 1945, and Crimea became an oblast of the Russian SFSR. It was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954, on the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav . With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence in 1991 most of
6325-663: The Soviets replaced it with Krym ( Ukrainian : Крим ; Russian : Крым ) depriving it of official status since 1921, it is still used by some institutions in Crimea, such as the Taurida National University established by the Crimean Regional Government in 1918, the Tavriya Simferopol football club so named in 1963, and the Tavrida federal highway being built under Russian occupation from 2017. Other suggestions either unsupported or contradicted by sources, apparently based on similarity in sound, include: Strabo ( Geography vii 4.3, xi. 2.5), Polybius , ( Histories 4.39.4), and Ptolemy ( Geographia . II, v 9.5) refer variously to
6440-451: The aid of her newspaper and public support. Her articles, many of which form the basis of A Dirty War (2001) and A Small Corner of Hell (2003), depict a conflict that brutalized both Chechen fighters and conscript soldiers in the federal army, and created hell for the civilians caught between them. As Politkovskaya reported, the order supposedly restored under the Kadyrovs became a regime of endemic torture, abduction, and murder, by either
6555-441: The biweekly Novaya Gazeta , a newspaper with strong investigative reporting that was critical of the new post-Soviet regime from the outset. She published several award-winning books about Chechnya , life in Russia, and Russia under Vladimir Putin , including Putin's Russia . Politkovskaya won awards for her work. She used each of these occasions to urge greater concern and responsibility by Western governments that, after
6670-407: The book gives her account of the period from December 2003 to August 2005, including what she described as "the death of Russian parliamentary democracy", the Beslan school hostage crisis , and the "winter and summer of discontent" from January to August 2005. Because she was murdered "while translation was being completed, final editing had to go ahead without her help", wrote translator Arch Tait in
6785-440: The book—with the words "If anybody thinks they can take comfort from the 'optimistic' forecast, let them do so. It is certainly the easier way, but it is the death sentence for our grandchildren." In May 2007, Random House posthumously published Politkovskaya's A Russian Diary , containing extracts from her notebook and other writings. Subtitled A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption, and Death in Putin's Russia ,
6900-512: The case was not closed. On 7 October 2016, Novaya gazeta released a video clip of its editors, correspondents, photographers and technical and administrative staff holding text-boards giving details of the case and stating, repeatedly, "The sponsor of Anna's murder has not been found". On the same day deputy chief editor Sergei Sokolov published a damning summary of the official investigation, describing its false turns and shortcomings, and emphasized that it had now effectively been wound up. After
7015-438: The collapse of the horde but quite rapidly itself became subject to the Ottoman Empire , which also conquered the coastal areas which had kept independent of the Khanate. A major source of prosperity in these times were frequents raids into Russia for slaves . In 1774, the Ottoman Empire was defeated by Catherine the Great with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca making the Tatars of the Crimea politically independent. Catherine
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#17328878772097130-533: The commander of the Russian Caucasus deployment mentioned by Politkovskaya's camp guide as the one who ordered captured militants to be kept in the pits, was filmed as he ordered Yandiyev to be executed. While flying south in September 2004 to help negotiate with those who had taken over a thousand hostages in a school in Beslan (North Ossetia), Politkovskaya fell violently ill and lost consciousness after drinking tea given to her by an Aeroflot flight attendant. She had reportedly been poisoned , with some accusing
7245-412: The dark forces at the heart of Russia's current being. I must confess that I finished reading A Russian Diary feeling that it should be taken up and dropped from the air in vast quantities throughout the length and breadth of Mother Russia, for all her people to read." Politkovskaya was closely involved in attempts to negotiate the release of hostages in the Moscow theatre hostage crisis of 2002. When
7360-479: The east, the Crimean Bridge , constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch , linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia . The Arabat Spit , located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to the west lies Romania and to the south is Turkey. The population is 2.4 million, and the largest city is Sevastopol . The region has been under Russian occupation since 2014 . Called
7475-441: The flow of water was restored however the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam could lead to problems with water supply again. Seventy-five percent of the remaining area of Crimea consists of semiarid prairie lands, a southward continuation of the Pontic–Caspian steppe, which slope gently to the northwest from the foothills of the Crimean Mountains. Numerous kurgans , or burial mounds , of the ancient Scythians are scattered across
7590-438: The former Soviet secret police poison facility . In 2001, Politkovskaya fled to Vienna , following e-mail threats that a police officer whom she had accused of atrocities against civilians in Chechnya was looking to take revenge. Corporal Sergey Lapin was arrested and charged in 2002, but the case against him was closed the following year. In 2005, Lapin was convicted and jailed for the torture and subsequent disappearance of
7705-449: The former Soviet Union, working through her organisation, the Women of the Don NGO. In October 2018, ahead of the 12th anniversary of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, RAW in WAR presented the 2018 Anna Politkovskaya Award to Binalakshmi Nepram , a courageous indigenous human rights defender and author from the state of Manipur, on the Indo-Myanmar border area, and Svetlana Alexievich , a writer and investigative journalist from Belarus and
7820-406: The highest altitudes in the Crimean mountains. The Crimean mountains greatly influence the amount of precipitation present in the peninsula. However, most of Crimea (88.5%) receives 300 to 500 millimetres (11.8 to 19.7 in) of precipitation per year. The plains usually receive 300 to 400 millimetres (11.8 to 15.7 in) of precipitation per year, increasing to 560 millimetres (22.0 in) in
7935-602: The integrity of Ukraine in Simferopol at 12,000 people, opposed by several thousand pro-Russian protesters. On 27 February, Russian forces occupied parliament and government buildings and other strategic points in Crimea and the Russian-organized Republic of Crimea declared independence from Ukraine following an illegal and internationally unrecognized referendum . Russia then annexed Crimea, although most countries (100 votes in favour, 11 against, 58 abstentions) continued to recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine. Covering an area of 27,000 km (10,425 sq mi), Crimea
8050-432: The interior was occupied by a changing cast of steppe nomads , coming under the control of the Golden Horde in the 13th century from which the Crimean Khanate emerged as a successor state. In the 15th century, the Khanate became a dependency of the Ottoman Empire. Lands controlled by Russia and Poland-Lithuania were often the target of slave raids during this period. In 1783, after the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774),
8165-421: The largest are the Simferopolskoye, Alminskoye, the Taygansky and the Belogorsky just south of Bilohirsk in Bilohirsk Raion . The North Crimea Canal , which transports water from the Dnieper , is the largest of the man-made irrigation channels on the peninsula. Crimea was facing an unprecedented water shortage crisis following the blocking of the canal by Ukraine in 2014. After the 2022 Russian invasion,
8280-586: The madwoman of Moscow. I find it disgusting to live this way. I would like a bit more understanding. After Politkovskaya's murder, Vyacheslav Izmailov, her colleague at Novaya Gazeta – a military man who had helped negotiate the release of dozens of hostages in Chechnya before 1999 – said that he knew of at least nine previous occasions when Politkovskaya had faced death, commenting "Frontline-soldiers do not usually go into battle so often and survive". Politkovskaya herself did not deny being afraid, but felt responsible and concerned for her informants. While attending
8395-594: The mainland. It was often fortified and sometimes garrisoned by the Turks. The North Crimean Canal now crosses it to bring water from the Dnieper. To the west Karkinit Bay separates the Tarkhankut Peninsula from the mainland. On the north side of the peninsula is Chernomorskoe /Kalos Limen . On the south side is the large Donuzlav Bay and the port and ancient Greek settlement of Yevpatoria /Kerkinitis/Gözleve. The coast then runs south to Sevastopol / Chersonesus ,
8510-481: The many palaces were replaced with dachas and health resorts. From west to east are: Heracles Peninsula ; Balaklava /Symbalon/Cembalo, a smaller natural harbor south of Sevastopol; Foros , the southernmost point; Alupka with the Vorontsov Palace (Alupka) ; Gaspra ; Yalta ; Gurzuf ; Alushta . Further east is Sudak /Sougdia/Soldaia with its Genoese fort. Further east still is Theodosia/Kaffa/ Feodosia , once
8625-705: The most important of which was Chersonesos near modern-day Sevastopol , with Scythians and Tauri in the hinterland to the north. The Tauri gave the name the Tauric Peninsula, which Crimea was called into the early modern period . The southern coast gradually consolidated into the Bosporan Kingdom which was annexed by Pontus in Asia Minor and later became a client kingdom of Rome from 63 BCE to 341 CE. The south coast remained Greek in culture for almost two thousand years including under Roman successor states,
8740-596: The mouth of the Don River were Tanais , Azak/ Azov and now Rostov-on-Don . North of the peninsula the Dnieper turns westward and enters the Black Sea through the east–west Dnieper-Bug Estuary which also receives the Bug River. At the mouth of the Bug stood Olvia . At the mouth of the estuary is Ochakiv . Odesa stands where the coast turns southwest. Further southwest is Tyras /Akkerman/ Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi . The southeast coast
8855-561: The name of the capital was extended to the entire peninsula at some point during Ottoman suzerainty (1441–1783). The word Qırım is derived from the Turkic term qirum ("fosse, trench"), from qori- ("to fence, protect"). Another classical name for Crimea, Tauris or Taurica , is from the Greek Ταυρική ( Taurikḗ ), after the peninsula's Scytho-Cimmerian inhabitants, the Tauri . The name
8970-457: The new Chechen authorities or the various federal forces based in Chechnya. One of her last investigations was into the alleged mass poisoning of Chechen schoolchildren by a strong and unknown chemical substance which incapacitated them for many months. After Politkovskaya became widely known in the West, she was commissioned to write Putin's Russia (later subtitled Life in a Failing Democracy ),
9085-687: The orders of Joseph Stalin , in what has been described as a cultural genocide. Crimea was downgraded to an oblast in 1945. In 1954, the USSR transferred the oblast to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Treaty in 1654. After Ukrainian independence in 1991, the central government and the Republic of Crimea clashed, with the region being granted more autonomy . The Soviet fleet in Crimea
9200-400: The outskirts of Moscow. Before Politkovskaya was buried, more than one thousand mourners filed past her coffin to pay their last respects. Dozens of Politkovskaya's colleagues, public figures, and admirers of her work gathered at the cemetery. No high-ranking Russian officials could be seen at the ceremony. Politkovskaya was buried near her father, who had died shortly before her. In May 2007,
9315-543: The peninsula the maritime influence is weak and does not play an important role. Because a high-pressure system is located north of Crimea in both summer and winter, winds predominantly come from the north and northeast year-round. In winter these winds bring in cold, dry continental air, while in summer they bring in dry and hot weather. Winds from the northwest bring warm and wet air from the Atlantic Ocean, causing precipitation during spring and summer. As well, winds from
9430-775: The peninsula was reorganized as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea . A 1997 treaty partitioned the Soviet Black Sea Fleet , allowing Russia to continue basing its fleet in Sevastopol, with the lease extended in 2010. In 2014, Crimea saw demonstrations against the removal of the Russia-leaning Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych in Kyiv and protests in support of Euromaidan . Ukrainian historian Volodymyr Holovko estimates 26 February protest in support of
9545-479: The poisoning, the arrests, the threats in letters and over the Internet, the telephoned death threats, the weekly summons to the prosecutor general's office to sign statements about practically every article I write (the first question being, "How and where did you obtain this information?"). Of course I don't like the constant derisive articles about me that appear in other newspapers and on Internet sites presenting me as
9660-474: The republic, few northern (Armiansk, Krasnoperekopsk, Dzhankoi), aside from the central area, mainly Simferopol okrug and eastern region in Nizhnegorsk (few plants, same for Dzhankoj) city. Important industrial cities include Dzhankoi , housing a major railway connection, Krasnoperekopsk and Armiansk , among others. After the Russian annexation of Crimea in early 2014 and subsequent sanctions targeting Crimea,
9775-450: The rule of law. There are no excuses for these flawed investigations into murders of politically critical journalists writing against corruption and crime within government, such as the murders of Georgy Gongadze in Ukraine in 2000 and Paul Klebnikov in Moscow in 2004. Before the trial ended, Stanislav Markelov , a lawyer who had investigated many of the abuses documented by Politkovskaya,
9890-581: The southern coast are part of the Crimean Submediterranean forest complex ecoregion. The natural vegetation consists of scrublands, woodlands, and forests, with a climate and vegetation similar to the Mediterranean Basin . Crimea is located between the temperate and subtropical climate belts and is characterized by warm and sunny weather. It is characterized by diversity and the presence of microclimates. The northern parts of Crimea have
10005-559: The southern coast at sea level. The western parts of the Crimean mountains receive more than 1,000 millimetres (39.4 in) of precipitation per year. Snowfall is common in the mountains during winter. Most of the peninsula receives more than 2,000 sunshine hours per year; it reaches up to 2,505 sunshine hours in Qarabiy yayla in the Crimean Mountains. As a result, the climate favors recreation and tourism. Because of its climate and subsidized travel-packages from Russian state-run companies,
10120-499: The southern coast has remained a popular resort for Russian tourists. The Black Sea ports of Crimea provide quick access to the Eastern Mediterranean , Balkans and Middle East. Historically , possession of the southern coast of Crimea was sought after by most empires of the greater region since antiquity ( Roman , Byzantine , Ottoman , Russian , British and French , Nazi German , Soviet ). The nearby Dnieper River
10235-412: The southern coastal regions, is characterized by mild winters and moderately hot, dry summers. The climate of Crimea is influenced by its geographic location, relief, and influences from the Black Sea . The Southern Coast is shielded from cold air masses coming from the north and, as a result, has milder winters. Maritime influences from the Black Sea are restricted to coastal areas; in the interior of
10350-899: The southwest bring very warm and wet air from the subtropical latitudes of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea and cause precipitation during fall and winter. Mean annual temperatures range from 10 °C (50.0 °F) in the far north ( Armiansk ) to 13 °C (55.4 °F) in the far south ( Yalta ). In the mountains, the mean annual temperature is around 5.7 °C (42.3 °F). For every 100 m (330 ft) increase in altitude, temperatures decrease by 0.65 °C (1.17 °F) while precipitation increases. In January mean temperatures range from −3 °C (26.6 °F) in Armiansk to 4.4 °C (39.9 °F) in Myskhor . Cool-season temperatures average around 7 °C (44.6 °F) and it
10465-405: The southwest coast; others include Aqtas , Koyashskoye, Kiyatskoe, Kirleutskoe, Kizil-Yar, Bakalskoe, and Donuzlav . The general trend is for the former lakes to become salt pans. Lake Syvash (Sıvaş or Сива́ш) is a system of interconnected shallow lagoons on the north-eastern coast, covering an area of around 2,560 km (988 sq mi). A number of dams have created reservoirs; among
10580-460: The street, like they do in your Moscow". Kadyrov echoed him: "You're an enemy. To be shot...." On the day of her murder, said Novaya Gazeta ' s chief editor Dmitry Muratov, Politkovskaya had planned to file a lengthy story on the torture practices believed to be used by the Chechen security detachments known as Kadyrovites . In her final interview, she described Kadyrov—now president of Chechnya—as
10695-807: The summer. The largest rivers are the Salhyr (Salğır, Салгир), the Kacha (Кача), the Alma (Альма), and the Belbek (Бельбек). Also important are the Kokozka (Kökköz or Коккозка), the Indole (Indol or Индо́л), the Chorna (Çorğun, Chernaya or Чёрная), the Derekoika (Dereköy or Дерекойка), the Karasu-Bashi (Biyuk-Karasu or Биюк-Карасу) (a tributary of the Salhyr river), the Burulcha (Бурульча) (also
10810-412: The tent into complete darkness. The nights here are impenetrable. After we walked for a while, he said, "Ready or not, here I come." Something burst with pulsating fire around me, screeching, roaring, and growling. The lieutenant colonel was very happy when I crouched in fright. It turned out that he had led me right under the "Grad" rocket launcher at the moment it was fired. After the mock execution ,
10925-432: The three Makhmudov brothers, Khadjikurbanov and Lom-Ali Gaitukayev were convicted in 2014, wrote Sokolov, the once large team of investigators was reduced to one person and within a year he retired, to be replaced by a lower-ranking investigator. The 2000 killing of Igor Domnikov , another Novaya gazeta journalist, showed that the perpetrators might be identified (they were convicted in 2008). The Intercept published
11040-605: The trial at a press conference in Moscow. In his comments on the end of the trial, Andrew McIntosh , Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 's Sub-Committee on the Media and Rapporteur on media freedom, expressed frustration at what he perceived to be a lack of progress in investigating the murder, or the inability of the Russian authorities to find her killers: Two years ago, in its Resolution 1535 (2007),
11155-617: The world, who work in war and conflict zones, often at great personal risk. Mariana Katzarova , a friend and a human rights colleague of Politkovskaya, founded RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) and the Anna Politkovskaya Award in 2006 in London, after being a journalist and human rights advocate in the war zones of Kosovo, Bosnia and Chechnya. In 2016, to mark the tenth anniversary of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, an additional special award
11270-516: The years of Soviet rule, the resorts and dachas of this coast were used by leading politicians and served as prime perquisites of the politically loyal. In addition, vineyards and fruit orchards are located in the region. Fishing, mining, and the production of essential oils are also important. Numerous Crimean Tatar villages, mosques, monasteries , and palaces of the Russian imperial family and nobles are found here, as well as picturesque ancient Greek and medieval castles. The Crimean Mountains and
11385-533: Was abducted in Grozny and found dead, several hours later, in the neighboring Republic of Ingushetia . On 5 August 2009, the prosecution service's objection to the acquittals in the Politkovskaya trial was upheld by the Supreme Court, and a new trial was ordered. In August 2011, Russian prosecutors claimed they were close to solving the murder after detaining Dmitry Pavliuchenkov, a former policeman, who they alleged
11500-407: Was also in contention , but a 1997 treaty allowed Russia to continue basing its fleet in Sevastopol. In 2014, the peninsula was occupied by Russian forces and annexed by Russia , but most countries recognise Crimea as Ukrainian territory. In English, the omission of the definite article ("Crimea" rather than "the Crimea") became common during the later 20th century. The spelling "Crimea"
11615-482: Was assassinated in Moscow on 19 January 2009. Journalist Anastasia Baburova , who was with Markelov at the time, died later of injuries sustained while trying to intervene. More closely related to Politkovskaya's work as a journalist was 15 July 2009 murder of Natalia Estemirova . A board member of the Memorial human rights society and one of Politkovskaya's key informants, guides, and colleagues in Chechnya, Estemirova
11730-657: Was baptized at Sevastopol starting the Christianization of Kievan Rus' . The north and centre of Crimea fell to the Mongol Golden Horde , although the south coast was still controlled by the Christian Principality of Theodoro and Genoese colonies . The Genoese–Mongol Wars were fought between the 13th and 15th centuries for control of south Crimea. In the 1440s the Crimean Khanate formed out of
11845-508: Was behind her death. On 5 December 2008, Sergei Sokolov, a senior editor of Novaya Gazeta , testified in court that he had received information (from sources he would not name) that defendant Dzhabrail Makhmudov was an agent of the FSB. He said Makhmudov's uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, who was serving a 12-year jail sentence for the attempted murder of a Ukrainian businessman, also worked for the FSB. Russia's Investigative Committee – with help from
11960-411: Was better known, joining TV journalist Vladislav Listyev as one of the hosts on the late-night TV-program Vzglyad . Apart from her childhood years, Politkovskaya spent no more than a few weeks outside Russia at any one time, even when her life came under threat. She was a U.S. citizen and had a U.S. passport, although she never relinquished her Russian citizenship. Politkovskaya's initial employment
12075-624: Was born in New York City in 1958, the daughter of Ukrainian Soviet diplomats at the United Nations , Stepan Fedorovich Mazepa (1927–2006) from Kostobobriv , Ukraine, and Raisa Aleksandrovna née Novikova (1929–2021) from Kerch in Crimea . Her father was ethnically Ukrainian and had attended a Ukrainian-language school in Chernihiv before the 1941 Nazi invasion of the USSR . He met her mother at
12190-509: Was on the plane crash in Omsk (1984). The correspondent role came with an unlimited air ticket, which enabled her to travel widely across the country and observe Russian society. She was privy to developments in the media sphere through her husband, "Russia's number one television journalist" from 1987 onwards, and shared his political interests. In the 1990 film about the Politkovsky family, she
12305-513: Was portrayed as her husband's "assistant". By the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, she experienced threats against their family, which forced her teenage son's exile in London in 1992. She was a columnist for the socio-political newspaper Megapolis-Express [ ru ] , founded in 1990, before it turned into a tabloid serving fake news in September 1994. She
12420-408: Was presented to a woman human rights defender from Russia who, like Anna Politkovskaya and the first winner of the award, Natalia Estemirova , who was murdered in Chechnya in 2009, has worked to build peace in conflict zones and help civilians trapped between opposing armed forces. The special award was presented to Valentina Cherevatenko who, since 1990, has intervened in a succession of conflicts in
12535-539: Was professionally involved in the creative union Eskart – which by 1991 offered advertising services through its partnership with major media outlets, such as the All-Union Radio , the organ of the Ministry of Railways Gudok [ ru ] , Kuranty [ ru ] , Literaturnaya Gazeta , Moskovskiye Novosti , My [ ru ] , Ogoniok , Oktyabr , Sovetskaya Kultura , Stolitsa [ ru ] , and Trud – and in
12650-575: Was revived by the Russian Empire during the mass hellenization of Crimean Tatar place names after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate , including both the peninsula and mainland territories now in Ukraine's Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. In 1764 imperial authorities established the Taurida Oblast ( Tavricheskaia oblast ), and reorganized it as the Taurida Governorate in 1802. While
12765-436: Was supposedly crowned with the temple of Artemis where Iphigeneia officiated as priestess. Uchan-su , on the south slope of the mountains, is the highest waterfall in Crimea. There are 257 rivers and major streams on the Crimean peninsula; they are primarily fed by rainwater, with snowmelt playing a very minor role. This makes for significant seasonal fluctuation in water flow, with many streams drying up completely during
12880-423: Was the principal organizer. The following month Kommersant Daily reported that, according to Pavlyuchenkov, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev was the one negotiating with the person who ordered the killing, and although Pavlyuchenkov did not know the name, he suspected he could be the fugitive businessman and Putin critic Boris Berezovsky . In December 2012, Dmitry Pavliutchenkov was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in
12995-543: Was where Wrangel 's anti-Bolshevik White Army made their last stand. Many anti-Communist fighters and civilians escaped to Istanbul but up to 150,000 were killed in Crimea. In 1921 the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic . It was occupied by Germany from 1942 to 1944 during the Second World War . After
13110-500: Was with Izvestia , the organ of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union , in 1982. According to her ex-husband in 2011, it was a brief internship in the mailroom and her only journalistic engagement during the 1980s as he failed to assist her career. In her son's words, until the mid-1990s she "wasn't even a journalist, she was a housewife ". Her own later account stated that "Sasha's work ... kept me from doing my own thing". She
13225-451: Was writing articles or conducting investigations. According to one of her articles, they did talk to her, "but only when they weren't likely to be observed: outside in crowds, or in houses that they approached by different routes, like spies". She also claimed that the Kremlin tried to block her access to information and discredit her: I will not go into the other joys of the path I have chosen,
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