October 7 marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of *Novaya Gazeta* journalist Anna Politkovskaya. While the courts have identified the perpetrators and organizers of the crime, the person who ordered the killing has never been named. The statute of limitations for the case expired in 2021—fifteen years after the murder took place.

Politkovskaya was shot dead on October 7, 2006, in the entrance of her apartment building on Lesnaya Street in Moscow. The assailant fired four shots, the final one striking her in the head.

In 2014, the Moscow City Court found Rustam Makhmudov guilty of carrying out the murder and Lom-Ali Gaitukaev guilty of organizing it; both received life sentences. Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, identified by the court as an intermediary in organizing the crime, was sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony, while Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Ibragim Makhmudov were sentenced to 14 and 12 years, respectively. Gaitukaev died in a penal colony in July 2017.

Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, a former lieutenant colonel in the Moscow police force, was tried separately in connection with the case. Investigators established that in the summer of 2006, he organized surveillance of Politkovskaya and passed the gathered information to other members of the group. Additionally, Pavlyuchenkov procured the pistol and ammunition subsequently used to kill the journalist. He was charged with contract murder committed by a group in connection with the victim's professional activities, as well as with illegal arms trafficking. Pavlyuchenkov pleaded guilty and entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement with investigators. In December 2012, the Moscow City Court sentenced him to 11 years in a maximum-security penal colony.

On October 7, 2021—15 years after the murder—the statute of limitations for prosecuting this particularly grave crime expired. That same day, *Novaya Gazeta* announced its intention to continue its own investigation and push to identify the person who ordered the crime.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the investigation into the murder was ineffective, noting that Russian authorities had failed to identify the person who ordered the killing and had not taken sufficient measures to fully investigate the circumstances of the crime.

A year after the journalist's murder, a memorial plaque was installed on the building at 8 Lesnaya Street in Moscow, bearing the inscription: "Anna Politkovskaya lived in this building and was brutally murdered here on October 7, 2006." In January 2026, unknown individuals smashed the plaque. Activists subsequently began installing temporary signs featuring the text of the original plaque, but these were repeatedly torn down. By March 19, such a sign had been replaced for the 30th time; most of the previous ones had remained in place for less than a day.