Anna Politkovskaia Honored by the Club of American Journalists

Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaia, Waging member from Russia, was honored for exemplary reporting on events in Russia at the annual awards ceremony held by the Club of American Journalists. She is the first recipient of the "Artem Borovik" award, which was initiated by a number of American media outlets and will be awarded annually to journalists whose work sheds light on events in Russia.

Anna Politkovskaia is a reporter for Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper. Over the past two years, she has covered events in refugee camps in Dagestan, as well as reported on events in Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic, which she visited numerous times last year. Anna is also the author of the book Travel to Hell: The Chechen Diary.

In addition to her work as a journalist, Anna has organized the relocation of 89 homes for the elderly from Grozny to Russia to escape the effects of war. Last summer, 22 elderly men were returned to Grozny. However, they were left without water, medicine, food, or clothing. In August 2000, under Anna's leadership, Novaya Gazeta began an initiative entitled "Grozny: a house for the elderly," and collected 5.5 tons of cargo and approximately $5,000.

Aside from her most recent award, Anna was awarded the "Golden Nib of Russia" in January 2000 for a series of reports about the situation in the Chechen Republic. Anna's other awards include the "Kind Act - Kind Heart" award given to her by the Union of Journalists in the Russian Federation, an award for articles exposing corruption, and the "Golden Gong - 2000" certificate for a series of reports about the Chechen Republic.

On February 20, 2024 Anna was arrested in the Chechen Republic. Thanks to public support, she was released in a week. According to her colleagues from Novaya Gazeta, "Anna Politkovskaia works under dangerous conditions connected with transitional borders and overcomes the infinite number of obstacles created by federal armies. In the face of information blockade, Anna Politkovskaia always shows high professionalism and courage."

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