Media Freedom Coalition statement marking 20 years since the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya

On 7 October, twenty years ago, investigative journalist and Novaya Gazeta correspondent Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in Moscow following her reporting, including on human rights abuses in Chechnya.

The undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition call on the Russian authorities to bring all those responsible for her murder, including those who ordered it, to justice. Impunity for crimes against journalists and media workers cannot prevail.

Over the past two decades, the Russian authorities have systematically eroded media freedom and independent journalism. Since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, repressions have intensified dramatically. Russia’s ranking of 172^nd out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index reflects the severe pressure on journalists. Repressions include the designation of journalists and media outlets as “foreign agents” and organisations as “undesirable”, as well as threats, intimidation, detention, prosecution, criminal cases in absentia, lengthy prison sentences and the adoption of the so-called “civic death law”.

We stand with journalists and media workers who, despite censorship, prosecution, restrictive legislation, forced exile and acts of transnational repression, continue to document Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as corruption, repression and human rights abuses.

We urge the Russian Federation to allow journalists and media workers to work freely and safely, release all those unjustly detained or imprisoned, and end transnational persecution and criminalisation of journalists. The Russian authorities must end impunity for crimes against journalists, ensure accountability for those who order, enable or carry out attacks, and uphold its international human rights obligations, including the right to freedom of expression.

Signed: