Anna Politkovskaya never chose the easy way out. Born in New York in 1958 to Ukranian parents serving as Soviet diplomats to the United Nations, Politkovskaya was entitled to an American passport. Instead she chose to delve into the inner workings of Russia and expose corruption like no other journalist before her had. Doing so was (and still is) a dangerous job. Politkovskaya survived a poisoning attempt in 2004 and was told by Alexander Litvinenko (who was subsequently poisoned himself after becoming a harsh critic of Vladimir Putin) to leave the country. She didn’t listen and continued on her crusade.
In the fall of 2006 Politkovskaya was shot in a contract killing and Russia’s most passionate, critical voice was silenced. She completed A Russian Diary shortly before her death and the timing of this emphasizes how important it is for the world (and Russia) to know about the darkness that has engulfed the country.
A Russian Diary is separated into three parts and spans from December 2003 to August 2005. The first part, titled “The Death of Russian Parliamentary Democracy,” focuses mainly on the reelection of Putin and how this sounded the death knell for a free Russia. Later on in the section Politkovskaya discusses one of the more egregious side effects of Putin’s corruption: uneven distribution of wealth. Until 2002 orphanages received extensive gifts from the rich but Putin brought an end to this and now most orphans are dressed in tattered shawls.
Politkovskaya writes: “Meanwhile, our nouveaux riches are skiing this Christmas in Courchevel. More than two thousand Russians, each earning over half a million rubles a month… Not a word is heard in the televised Christmas reports from Courchevel about hard work having led to the amassing of these fortunes.”
Part two, titled “Russia’s Great Political Depression” outlines the apathy that struck the nation after Putin’s reelection. “Everything seemed as boring and wretched as it did in the days of the Soviet Union…” writes Politkovskaya. “It appeared that people had simply given up, as if to say, ‘Who cares what happens now!’” At the beginning of the chapter one of Putin’s appointees in Nazran has just survived an assassination attempt. On the direct orders of Putin, police flood the city and capture many innocent people. By talking about this Politkovskaya is drawing a direct parallel between fear and inaction. It is Putin’s iron fist that has paralyzed the nation into a reserved state of defeatism.
The third section takes us to about a year before Politkovskaya’s murder. Russia is starting to come alive on the heels of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution. If the Ukrainians could change things, why couldn’t Russia? But Politkovskaya outlines extensively how this passion for change is quickly rendered into ineffective discontent, with a few protests here and there amounting to nothing. Terrorist attacks become more prevalent and Putin’s regime tightens its grip more than ever on the Russian people.
Politkovskaya gives an important voice to those who are unspoken for in Russia. Russian media is either directly controlled or heavily influenced by the government, and harsh words generally fall to censorship. A Russian Diary has not been published in Russia for this reason. Post-Cold War, the United States sees Russia as an ally, even though it threatens the ideals of Westernized democracy. The new president of Russia was handpicked by Putin so it’s safe to say the political landscape in the nation isn’t changing anytime soon. But the question with no answer still hangs as heavy as Russia’s apathy: how can things change?
While the importance of Politkovskaya’s book is unquestionable, the overall effect remains to be seen. Sure, revolutions don’t happen overnight, they take time and decades (oftentimes centuries) of maltreatment and grievances. Politkovskaya brings light to the plight of the Russian people and stirs the blood of anyone who reads her book. While some of her voice is lost through the translation, her anger and desire to change the country she loves are very apparent. Though frequently pessimistic and cynical, Politkovskaya argues that optimism “is certainly the easier way, but it is also a death sentence for our grandchildren.”
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