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A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption & Death in Putin's Russia
A devastating account of contemporary Russia by a great and brave writer.
A Russian Diary is the book that Anna Politkovskaya had recently completed when she was murdered in a contract killing in Moscow. It covers the period from the Russian elections of December 2003 to the tragic aftermath of the Beslan school siege in late 2005. The book is an unflinching record of the plight of millions of Russians and a pitiless report on the cynicism and corruption of Vladimir Putin’s presidency.
A Russian Diary is the book that Anna Politkovskaya had recently completed when she was murdered in a contract killing in Moscow. It covers the period from the Russian elections of December 2003 to the tragic aftermath of the Beslan school siege in late 2005. The book is an unflinching record of the plight of millions of Russians and a pitiless report on the cynicism and corruption of Vladimir Putin’s presidency.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Anna Politkovskaya
11 books261 followersRussian journalist and human rights activist well-known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and Russian president Putin.
Politkovskaya made her name reporting from lawless Chechnya, where many journalists and humanitarian workers have been kidnapped or killed. She was arrested and subjected to mock execution by Russian military forces there, and she was poisoned on the way to Beslan, but survived and continued her reporting.
She authored several books about Chechen wars as well as Putin's Russia and received numerous prestigious international awards for her work.
She was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment building on.
Politkovskaya made her name reporting from lawless Chechnya, where many journalists and humanitarian workers have been kidnapped or killed. She was arrested and subjected to mock execution by Russian military forces there, and she was poisoned on the way to Beslan, but survived and continued her reporting.
She authored several books about Chechen wars as well as Putin's Russia and received numerous prestigious international awards for her work.
She was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment building on.
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February 7, 2014My response to Putin's Olympics was to order three books by Anna Politkovskaya.
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March 21, 2022Ez egy húsz éves könyv. És az a legrosszabb benne, hogy akiről írták, még mindig Oroszország elnöke. Aki viszont írta, halott. Putyin születésnapján lőtték le, micsoda véletlen! Mindezt nehéz nem a kozmikus reménytelenség metaforájaként értelmezni.
Az értékelő meg mit csináljon ilyen körülmények között? Hogy lehet a "jó vagy rossz" skálán elhelyezni egy ilyen kötetet? És most nem csak a háttérre gondolok, hanem a műfaji problémákra is. Ez ugyanis egy napló. Egy újságíró napi benyomásai a 2003-2005-ös évekből. Jobbára szerkesztetlen, nincs gatyába rázva, tele van ismétlődésekkel, sok helyütt az indulat érezhetően szembemegy a gondos, tiszta mondatalkotással. De azt hiszem, pont ez teszi hitelessé. Helyenként csüggesztő monotonitása az a fajta érzés, amit egy oroszországi értelmiségi nap mint nap érezni kénytelen: hogy nincs igazság. Az pedig, hogy nekünk ennek ellenére van igazságérzetünk, Isten rossz vicce, fifikás büntetés egy ismeretlen bűnért.
A kötet tulajdonképpen azt az időszakot vizsgálja, amikor Putyin második elnöki ciklusának nekifutva elkezdi valóban felszámolni az amúgy sem különösebben vitális orosz demokráciát. Megteheti, mert a rivális pártok renoméja a padlón, a lakosság passzív és fáradt, igazából csak arra vágyik, hogy hagyják békén heverni a sárban. A hangulatot a csecsen háború és a mindennapos terrorcselekmények (Dubrovka, Beszlán) határozzák meg - Putyin pedig az ezek nyomán kialakuló idegengyűlöletet felhasználva szilárdítja meg hatalmát, és a szükségállapotra hivatkozva suba alatt felszámolja a nem hozzá lojális oligarchákat, valamit az ellenzéki kezdeményezéseket.
Ez a két elem Politkovszkaja naplójának központi motívuma, ezzel foglalkozik a szerző legtöbbet: a csecsen válság és a belpolitika putyini "megtisztítása". A hivatalos retorika szerint utóbbira azért van szükség, hogy az előbbi helyzetet megoldják, de igazából pont fordítva van: az oroszok érdekeltek abban, hogy a csecsen helyzet tovább eszkalálódjon, mert ez legitimálja a nyílt jogsértéseket az ellenzéki pártok és a "nyugatos" civilek ellen. Akik tehetetlenek, hiába folyamodnak a joghoz, a néphez védelemért, mert a jog a hatalom gyurmája, a népnek meg momentán más dolga van. Nem arról van szó, hogy szeretné Putyint (az oroszok többsége éppúgy tudja, hogy a politikusokon nincs mit szeretni), hanem egész egyszerűen fél. Félelme sokszínű: retteghet a csecsenektől, retteghet Putyintól, retteghet a NATO-tól. Akárhogy is: nosztalgiával gondol vissza az időre, amikor még tőle féltek, és bizsergeti a gondolat, hogy ha a hadsereget szétlopták is, pár atomrakéta még akad, amivel zsarolni lehet a világot. Saját félelmét mások félelmével kezelné. Ő már letett arról, hogy jobban éljen - megelégszik azzal, ha más se él jobban.
Baromi nehéz valami pozitívat kiemelni ebből a könyvből. Talán azt, hogy tanulságos, mert közelről láthatjuk benne egy demokrácia felszámolásának folyamatát. Ebből lehet tanulni, már ha akarunk tanulni. Másfelől azért látszik, hogy vannak még bátor emberek. Mert Politkovszkaja bátor, mégpedig az a fajta bátor ember, aki nem azért áll ki az igazsága mellett, mert ettől valamit remél, hanem mert az igazságunk mellett egyszerűen muszáj kiállni. Ezt a fajta bátorságot a hatalomhoz dörgölőzők soha nem élhetik át, és ez frusztrálja is őket rendesen. Ezért próbálják meg a bátrakat lerángatni a maguk szintjére, a trágyába.
Az értékelő meg mit csináljon ilyen körülmények között? Hogy lehet a "jó vagy rossz" skálán elhelyezni egy ilyen kötetet? És most nem csak a háttérre gondolok, hanem a műfaji problémákra is. Ez ugyanis egy napló. Egy újságíró napi benyomásai a 2003-2005-ös évekből. Jobbára szerkesztetlen, nincs gatyába rázva, tele van ismétlődésekkel, sok helyütt az indulat érezhetően szembemegy a gondos, tiszta mondatalkotással. De azt hiszem, pont ez teszi hitelessé. Helyenként csüggesztő monotonitása az a fajta érzés, amit egy oroszországi értelmiségi nap mint nap érezni kénytelen: hogy nincs igazság. Az pedig, hogy nekünk ennek ellenére van igazságérzetünk, Isten rossz vicce, fifikás büntetés egy ismeretlen bűnért.
A kötet tulajdonképpen azt az időszakot vizsgálja, amikor Putyin második elnöki ciklusának nekifutva elkezdi valóban felszámolni az amúgy sem különösebben vitális orosz demokráciát. Megteheti, mert a rivális pártok renoméja a padlón, a lakosság passzív és fáradt, igazából csak arra vágyik, hogy hagyják békén heverni a sárban. A hangulatot a csecsen háború és a mindennapos terrorcselekmények (Dubrovka, Beszlán) határozzák meg - Putyin pedig az ezek nyomán kialakuló idegengyűlöletet felhasználva szilárdítja meg hatalmát, és a szükségállapotra hivatkozva suba alatt felszámolja a nem hozzá lojális oligarchákat, valamit az ellenzéki kezdeményezéseket.
Ez a két elem Politkovszkaja naplójának központi motívuma, ezzel foglalkozik a szerző legtöbbet: a csecsen válság és a belpolitika putyini "megtisztítása". A hivatalos retorika szerint utóbbira azért van szükség, hogy az előbbi helyzetet megoldják, de igazából pont fordítva van: az oroszok érdekeltek abban, hogy a csecsen helyzet tovább eszkalálódjon, mert ez legitimálja a nyílt jogsértéseket az ellenzéki pártok és a "nyugatos" civilek ellen. Akik tehetetlenek, hiába folyamodnak a joghoz, a néphez védelemért, mert a jog a hatalom gyurmája, a népnek meg momentán más dolga van. Nem arról van szó, hogy szeretné Putyint (az oroszok többsége éppúgy tudja, hogy a politikusokon nincs mit szeretni), hanem egész egyszerűen fél. Félelme sokszínű: retteghet a csecsenektől, retteghet Putyintól, retteghet a NATO-tól. Akárhogy is: nosztalgiával gondol vissza az időre, amikor még tőle féltek, és bizsergeti a gondolat, hogy ha a hadsereget szétlopták is, pár atomrakéta még akad, amivel zsarolni lehet a világot. Saját félelmét mások félelmével kezelné. Ő már letett arról, hogy jobban éljen - megelégszik azzal, ha más se él jobban.
Baromi nehéz valami pozitívat kiemelni ebből a könyvből. Talán azt, hogy tanulságos, mert közelről láthatjuk benne egy demokrácia felszámolásának folyamatát. Ebből lehet tanulni, már ha akarunk tanulni. Másfelől azért látszik, hogy vannak még bátor emberek. Mert Politkovszkaja bátor, mégpedig az a fajta bátor ember, aki nem azért áll ki az igazsága mellett, mert ettől valamit remél, hanem mert az igazságunk mellett egyszerűen muszáj kiállni. Ezt a fajta bátorságot a hatalomhoz dörgölőzők soha nem élhetik át, és ez frusztrálja is őket rendesen. Ezért próbálják meg a bátrakat lerángatni a maguk szintjére, a trágyába.
March 31, 2008
I feel like I have a much better understanding of what is happening in modern day Russian politics having read this book. Putin is calling the shots and stifling both political opposition and a free press. Generally speaking, the Russian people are relatively apathetic for two reasons: fear of the current regime combined with the fact that many of them are economically better off than they were in earlier times.
The irony: Putin seems to be building a fairly right leaning, facist state while the loudest voice of opposition to his taking away of individual freedoms is the communist party.
Anna Politkovskaya could have taken a high paying job in some Washington think tank - but she chose to stay in Russia and work to expose the injustices happening there. She paid with her life......She wasn't bitter that the West turned/is turning a blind eye to the lack of freedom in Russia, rather she felt that until the Russian people stand up for their rights, this injustice will continue.
I was very surprised to learn how the Russian military mistreats its conscripts. When one finds oneself in the Russian military, one becomes a non-person and forfeit what little rights one ever enjoyed. Horror stories abound.......
Excellent commentary on the Beslan school seige and how the Russian govt and military completely bungled the rescue. Despite the facts, they consider themselves modern day heroes. Chechnya is sadder still.
I would have given this a five star rating had I had a better understanding of the situation and players. It is my lack of knowledge that required the four star rating.
The irony: Putin seems to be building a fairly right leaning, facist state while the loudest voice of opposition to his taking away of individual freedoms is the communist party.
Anna Politkovskaya could have taken a high paying job in some Washington think tank - but she chose to stay in Russia and work to expose the injustices happening there. She paid with her life......She wasn't bitter that the West turned/is turning a blind eye to the lack of freedom in Russia, rather she felt that until the Russian people stand up for their rights, this injustice will continue.
I was very surprised to learn how the Russian military mistreats its conscripts. When one finds oneself in the Russian military, one becomes a non-person and forfeit what little rights one ever enjoyed. Horror stories abound.......
Excellent commentary on the Beslan school seige and how the Russian govt and military completely bungled the rescue. Despite the facts, they consider themselves modern day heroes. Chechnya is sadder still.
I would have given this a five star rating had I had a better understanding of the situation and players. It is my lack of knowledge that required the four star rating.
December 19, 2018
Βρισκόμουν λοιπόν σε ενα αναγνωστικό μπλοκάρισμα (αυτό που στο χωριό μας λένε reader's block) και δεν μπορούσα να συγκεντρωθώ σωστά στο διάβασμα. Ταυτόχρονα, είχαν αρχίσει να σώζονται τα αδιάβαστα της βιβλιοθήκης μου και δεν μπορούσα να βρω τίποτα που να με τραβάει, οπότε ανέλαβε ο άνθρωπος μου να μου δώσει ένα βιβλίο να διαβάσω. Και μου έδωσε αυτό.
Θα ξεκινήσω λέγοντας ότι δεν αισθάνομαι πολύ κατάλληλο άτομο για να κρίνω το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο. Το θέμα του είναι σε γενικές γραμμές εκτός του ενδιαφέροντος μου και κατά το μεγαλύτερο μέρος του (για να μην πω στο σύνολο) παντελώς άγνωστο. Ωστόσο, δεν μπορώ να μην αναγνωρίσω ότι πολλά κομμάτια, από τα οποία προκύπτει μια γλαφυρή εικόνα της Ρωσίας του Πούτιν, έχουν μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον. Μπορεί κάποιος σίγουρα να μάθει σχετικά με ορισμένα σημαντικά γεγονότα στη Ρωσία την προηγούμενη δεκαετία.
Ωστόσο, είναι και κουραστικό. Λόγω της μορφής του, η οποία είναι ημερολογιακή, δίνει έμφαση σε γεγονότα κατά τη σειρά που έγιναν, πολλές φορές ασύνδετα μεταξύ τους και δύσκολο να γίνουν αντιληπτά από κάποιον που δεν ξέρει το ευρύτερο πλαίσιο. Παραθέτει έναν μεγάλο όγκο πληροφορίας αλλά δεν εμβαθύνει πολύ στα γεγονότα. Επιπλέον, είναι προφανές ότι δεν έχει τύχει επεξεργασίας και επιμέλειας, μια και δεν είναι καθόλου καλογραμμένο, κάτι που το καθιστά ακόμα πιο δύσκολο.
Χαίρομαι που διάβασα αυτό το βιβλίο, κυρίως γιατί η συγγραφέας του δολοφονήθηκε έξω από το σπίτι της επειδή έγραφε θαρραλέα τη γνώμη της, χωρίς να λογοκρίνεται για να αρέσει στην εξουσία. Και αν ένα τέτοιο άτομο έχει κάτι να μας πει, οφείλουμε να ακούσουμε. Ταυτόχρονα, βέβαια, χαίρομαι και που τελείωσε.
Θα ξεκινήσω λέγοντας ότι δεν αισθάνομαι πολύ κατάλληλο άτομο για να κρίνω το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο. Το θέμα του είναι σε γενικές γραμμές εκτός του ενδιαφέροντος μου και κατά το μεγαλύτερο μέρος του (για να μην πω στο σύνολο) παντελώς άγνωστο. Ωστόσο, δεν μπορώ να μην αναγνωρίσω ότι πολλά κομμάτια, από τα οποία προκύπτει μια γλαφυρή εικόνα της Ρωσίας του Πούτιν, έχουν μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον. Μπορεί κάποιος σίγουρα να μάθει σχετικά με ορισμένα σημαντικά γεγονότα στη Ρωσία την προηγούμενη δεκαετία.
Ωστόσο, είναι και κουραστικό. Λόγω της μορφής του, η οποία είναι ημερολογιακή, δίνει έμφαση σε γεγονότα κατά τη σειρά που έγιναν, πολλές φορές ασύνδετα μεταξύ τους και δύσκολο να γίνουν αντιληπτά από κάποιον που δεν ξέρει το ευρύτερο πλαίσιο. Παραθέτει έναν μεγάλο όγκο πληροφορίας αλλά δεν εμβαθύνει πολύ στα γεγονότα. Επιπλέον, είναι προφανές ότι δεν έχει τύχει επεξεργασίας και επιμέλειας, μια και δεν είναι καθόλου καλογραμμένο, κάτι που το καθιστά ακόμα πιο δύσκολο.
Χαίρομαι που διάβασα αυτό το βιβλίο, κυρίως γιατί η συγγραφέας του δολοφονήθηκε έξω από το σπίτι της επειδή έγραφε θαρραλέα τη γνώμη της, χωρίς να λογοκρίνεται για να αρέσει στην εξουσία. Και αν ένα τέτοιο άτομο έχει κάτι να μας πει, οφείλουμε να ακούσουμε. Ταυτόχρονα, βέβαια, χαίρομαι και που τελείωσε.
May 20, 2008
While reading this book, you already know that Anna was gunned-down in her apartment building. An assassination most in the anti-Putin camp will point in his direction. This book was finished before, although maybe not completely, her death. Because of that prior knowledge, this book feels like you're reading her death warrant. The closer you creep to the end of the book, the more you want to go back in time and warn Anna to leave!
Stop!
Get out!
...But she knew the whole time. She wasn't caught off guard. While covering the war in Chechnya she was poisoned in an assassination attempt. She was aware of the dangers, and expressed it throughout her books. That somehow brought me comfort. She wasn't willing to quiet up or go away. She may have been scared, but she was mad enough to put those thoughts away and soldier on.
Sometime between the first page and the last, you realize that most Russians don't even know this book exists. She was writing it for her people, and yet some white girl from the USA, me, is the one sobbing in her bath tub, wishing change for a country I've never been to.
Stop!
Get out!
...But she knew the whole time. She wasn't caught off guard. While covering the war in Chechnya she was poisoned in an assassination attempt. She was aware of the dangers, and expressed it throughout her books. That somehow brought me comfort. She wasn't willing to quiet up or go away. She may have been scared, but she was mad enough to put those thoughts away and soldier on.
Sometime between the first page and the last, you realize that most Russians don't even know this book exists. She was writing it for her people, and yet some white girl from the USA, me, is the one sobbing in her bath tub, wishing change for a country I've never been to.
May 30, 2010
In trying to describe this book and the work of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the first thing that came to my mind was the words of poet Dylan Thomas. Watching Russia’s barely-worthy-of-the-term democracy steadily crumble, Politkovskaya stubbornly refused to let it go gentle into that good night. A Russian Diary is a rage against the dying of the light. It is a brilliant and sobering piece of work that should be required reading for anyone with an interest in current world politics, and for anyone who believes in the critical role of a free press in keeping governments honest. Politkovskaya takes your breath away with her unblinking look at the many, many wrongs of Russian politics and society, and with her determination to continue to expose all she can, albeit at tremendous risk to herself.
For those who don’t follow world politics or who don't know much about Russia, a brief introduction may be in order. Former President and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin enjoys support within Russia and stature amongst leaders internationally, but it is also well known that the life-long KGB man (who later headed the Federal Security Bureau, successor to the KGB) rules in a way that echoes darker times in Russia’s past. The country is governed through strongman tactics and corruption abounds. Journalists and human rights defenders face pressure and intimidation, and several – including Politkovskaya herself – have been assassinated. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia waged two wars against the breakaway region of Chechnya (located at the southern edge of Russia, near Georgia and Turkey), and other regions in the area have been the site of violent conflict in recent years. Numerous terrorist attacks have occurred in Russia during this time as well, in connection with those conflicts.
No matter how much you know about Russia and its recent history, though, A Russian Diary is sure to be an eye-opener. The book, covering the period from the Russian parliamentary elections in late 2003 until the end of 2005, is Politkovskaya’s diary-style reflection on contemporary events in Russia as they happened. (She also includes additional commentary for context or when later events clarify earlier events.) This period sees the solidification of Vladimir Putin’s strong-armed rule; ongoing human rights abuses in Chechnya and other southern territories; the stifling and gradual cooptation of human rights activists by the Putin government; the continuing impoverishment of the population throughout Russia, and especially in the smaller villages and peripheral provinces; and a devastating number of deadly terrorist attacks, including, most tragically, the September 2004 siege of an elementary school in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia.
To put it bluntly, Politkovskaya’s Russia is one scary place. The first part of the book is entitled “The Death of Russian Parliamentary Democracy,” an ominous title that is shown to be only too true. From the outset, when the pro-Putin United Russia party sweeps to power in the Duma (the Russian parliament), it seems Putin is fated to win re-election to a second term as president, and the parties of Russia’s “democrats” seem completely unable – and/or unwilling – to do anything other than squabble amongst themselves. In the end they are totally unable to raise any realistic opposition against the Putin machine. Eventually, first one then another and another democrat crosses over to Putin’s party. Soon it is patently clear that the choice is to join forces with Putin, or watch your political career disappear. One presidential candidate does actually disappear, his whereabouts unknown until he resurfaces with a stranger-than-fiction tale of being kidnapped, smuggled by government forces over the border to a secret service site in Ukraine, and drugged to extract information. After the incident he withdraws his candidacy and travels to London, from whence he announces he will not return to Russia: a defection by a presidential candidate from a democratic country.
The book is replete with these and many other jaw-dropping details of life in contemporary Russia. It becomes incontrovertibly clear that the notion of “democracy” in Russia is a pathetic sham. Politkovskaya paints a portrait of Russia as a place where only power and influence and money speak – and money only sometimes. Reading A Russian Diary, one is struck by a sense of gaping disbelief at the parade of calamities that occur day by day, which Politkovskaya recounts with a quiet, steely outrage. In most other places in the world, just one out of the litany of crises she documents would be considered a disaster or an atrocity. In Russia, they are received with a sort of numbed horror at best, or with numb acceptance at worst. Sometimes a few brave souls rise up to fight against whatever new indignity Russia has heaped upon them but their efforts seem doomed. The politicians are no help. Putin and his men keep a stranglehold on the country, through the media, through manipulation, through influence peddling. In the face of this level of control, the ability of ordinary people to get redress is practically non-existent.
And this is a society where almost no ordinary person gets off easy. Soldiers are haphazardly sacrificed by feuding commanders in Chechnya. That is, if they make it that far: scores of young recruits die just from the unbelievably harsh treatment they receive in basic training. Veterans are so abandoned to poverty, unemployment, alcoholism, drug addiction, and post-traumatic stress that in one town alone, a 200-member Association of Servicemen of the Chechen Wars has been established – inside the prison. Pensioners can barely survive on their paltry pensions, and face losing in-kind benefits in place of laughably inadequate monetary “replacement” payments. Orphanages struggle with dwindling resources – especially after charitable donations from the wealthy dry up when tax credits for them are abolished. Ordinary workers are routinely underpaid, or paid in goods only. And, in a country where the threat of terrorism is a true constant, investigations are stonewalled in order to protect government officials.
Politkovskaya tells heartbreaking stories of the families of Beslan. Not just about the loss of their children in the 2004 school attack, but of the horrors those in the school suffered during both the siege and the criminally botched assault on the school by government forces, as well as of the ongoing suffering of the survivors as they are ignored and misled by the authorities and forgotten by the pubic at large in the months after the attack. (On December 11, 2004, four months after the attack, Politkovskaya writes, “As for Beslan, the town is quietly going out of its mind." And she means it. )
Given all that Politkovskaya so unflinchingly reveals in this book, two questions must inevitably stand out in the reader’s mind. One, in light of what ultimately happened to her, how did Anna Politkovskaya manage to stay alive and publish all that she did as long as she did? She could not but have been one of the worst thorns in the side of Russia’s powerful. Knowing her final end, reading what she wrote, it seems so tragically inevitable that someone would try to silence her permanently.
The second question is, what are the democratic governments of the West doing, carrying on relations with Putin’s Russia as if it were a normal country? Perhaps it is no more than the idea that in its current state, it’s safer to keep Russia within the fold, rather than outside it.
There is no reason to suspect anything has changed since the book’s publication. Putin has managed to keep himself in power, while formally leaving the office of President in the proper way, by anointing a loyal protégé as his successor as president and becoming prime minister himself. Human rights forces continue to face pressure and opposition (a few years ago, the Moscow office of the international organization I worked for had to go through a confounding process of “re-registration” suddenly required for all human rights organizations operating in Russia). And terrorism remains a constant in Russia, with the most recent examples, as I write this, of a bombing at a theatre in Stavropol on May 26, 2010, and two subway bombings in Moscow in March 2010.
As I mentioned at the outset, A Russian Diary should be required reading for anyone with an interest in current world politics. However, last and absolutely not least, the book is a critical statement of the indispensability of a free press in any society. It is a powerful testimony to the fierce heroism of tenacious and committed journalists around the world, who never cease to amaze me with their unwillingness to let go of the story of abuse of power, even at the cost of extreme risk to themselves. The lack of an adequate press in Russia has to be included among the reasons for its current condition, and Politkovskaya’s book shows how desperately a strong, free press is needed. While successive waves of formerly “opposition” politicians – erstwhile champions of democracy – gave in to political pressure to join the pro-Putin choir, and other journalists and news outlets self-censored and shrank away from reporting facts uncomfortable to the Putin administration, Anna Politkovskaya relentlessly continued to pull back the curtain on the Great and Powerful Oz every chance she got. A Russian Diary shows her to be uncompromising and unstoppable – until, that is, someone found a way to stop her forever, with an assassin’s bullet, on October 7, 2006. Her work and life demonstrate the power of the pen to strike fear in to the hearts of dictators and tyrants of all stripes.
A year before his defection to the West in 1951, the Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz wrote, “Do not feel safe. The poet remembers.” In this case, it's the journalist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You Who Wronged
Czeslaw Milosz
You who wronged a simple man
Bursting into laughter at the crime,
And kept a pack of fools around you
To mix good and evil, to blur the line,
Though everyone bowed down before you,
Saying virtue and wisdom lit your way,
Striking gold medals in your honor,
Glad to have survived another day,
Do not feel safe. The poet remembers.
You can kill one, but another is born.
The words are written down, the deed, the date.
And you’d have done better with a winter dawn,
A rope, and a branch bowed beneath your weight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quotes
As long as this review is, I can't help making it even longer by including some quotes. There are so many I didn't know where to begin -- or where to stop, evidently...
p. 107:
p. 110:
[Politkovskaya published frames a from a video made by a Russian soldier in Chechnya in 2000, showing Russian soldiers tormenting a group of prisoners of war they had already beaten horribly.:]
p. 156:
p. 184:
p. 246:
[In June 2005, the trial begins a group of young pro-democracy activists arrested after a demonstration in December 2004. The are charged with "organizing mass disorder." They are led into the courtroom chained together, and placed into barred “cages” for the accused.:]
p. 287:
For those who don’t follow world politics or who don't know much about Russia, a brief introduction may be in order. Former President and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin enjoys support within Russia and stature amongst leaders internationally, but it is also well known that the life-long KGB man (who later headed the Federal Security Bureau, successor to the KGB) rules in a way that echoes darker times in Russia’s past. The country is governed through strongman tactics and corruption abounds. Journalists and human rights defenders face pressure and intimidation, and several – including Politkovskaya herself – have been assassinated. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia waged two wars against the breakaway region of Chechnya (located at the southern edge of Russia, near Georgia and Turkey), and other regions in the area have been the site of violent conflict in recent years. Numerous terrorist attacks have occurred in Russia during this time as well, in connection with those conflicts.
No matter how much you know about Russia and its recent history, though, A Russian Diary is sure to be an eye-opener. The book, covering the period from the Russian parliamentary elections in late 2003 until the end of 2005, is Politkovskaya’s diary-style reflection on contemporary events in Russia as they happened. (She also includes additional commentary for context or when later events clarify earlier events.) This period sees the solidification of Vladimir Putin’s strong-armed rule; ongoing human rights abuses in Chechnya and other southern territories; the stifling and gradual cooptation of human rights activists by the Putin government; the continuing impoverishment of the population throughout Russia, and especially in the smaller villages and peripheral provinces; and a devastating number of deadly terrorist attacks, including, most tragically, the September 2004 siege of an elementary school in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia.
To put it bluntly, Politkovskaya’s Russia is one scary place. The first part of the book is entitled “The Death of Russian Parliamentary Democracy,” an ominous title that is shown to be only too true. From the outset, when the pro-Putin United Russia party sweeps to power in the Duma (the Russian parliament), it seems Putin is fated to win re-election to a second term as president, and the parties of Russia’s “democrats” seem completely unable – and/or unwilling – to do anything other than squabble amongst themselves. In the end they are totally unable to raise any realistic opposition against the Putin machine. Eventually, first one then another and another democrat crosses over to Putin’s party. Soon it is patently clear that the choice is to join forces with Putin, or watch your political career disappear. One presidential candidate does actually disappear, his whereabouts unknown until he resurfaces with a stranger-than-fiction tale of being kidnapped, smuggled by government forces over the border to a secret service site in Ukraine, and drugged to extract information. After the incident he withdraws his candidacy and travels to London, from whence he announces he will not return to Russia: a defection by a presidential candidate from a democratic country.
The book is replete with these and many other jaw-dropping details of life in contemporary Russia. It becomes incontrovertibly clear that the notion of “democracy” in Russia is a pathetic sham. Politkovskaya paints a portrait of Russia as a place where only power and influence and money speak – and money only sometimes. Reading A Russian Diary, one is struck by a sense of gaping disbelief at the parade of calamities that occur day by day, which Politkovskaya recounts with a quiet, steely outrage. In most other places in the world, just one out of the litany of crises she documents would be considered a disaster or an atrocity. In Russia, they are received with a sort of numbed horror at best, or with numb acceptance at worst. Sometimes a few brave souls rise up to fight against whatever new indignity Russia has heaped upon them but their efforts seem doomed. The politicians are no help. Putin and his men keep a stranglehold on the country, through the media, through manipulation, through influence peddling. In the face of this level of control, the ability of ordinary people to get redress is practically non-existent.
And this is a society where almost no ordinary person gets off easy. Soldiers are haphazardly sacrificed by feuding commanders in Chechnya. That is, if they make it that far: scores of young recruits die just from the unbelievably harsh treatment they receive in basic training. Veterans are so abandoned to poverty, unemployment, alcoholism, drug addiction, and post-traumatic stress that in one town alone, a 200-member Association of Servicemen of the Chechen Wars has been established – inside the prison. Pensioners can barely survive on their paltry pensions, and face losing in-kind benefits in place of laughably inadequate monetary “replacement” payments. Orphanages struggle with dwindling resources – especially after charitable donations from the wealthy dry up when tax credits for them are abolished. Ordinary workers are routinely underpaid, or paid in goods only. And, in a country where the threat of terrorism is a true constant, investigations are stonewalled in order to protect government officials.
Politkovskaya tells heartbreaking stories of the families of Beslan. Not just about the loss of their children in the 2004 school attack, but of the horrors those in the school suffered during both the siege and the criminally botched assault on the school by government forces, as well as of the ongoing suffering of the survivors as they are ignored and misled by the authorities and forgotten by the pubic at large in the months after the attack. (On December 11, 2004, four months after the attack, Politkovskaya writes, “As for Beslan, the town is quietly going out of its mind." And she means it. )
Given all that Politkovskaya so unflinchingly reveals in this book, two questions must inevitably stand out in the reader’s mind. One, in light of what ultimately happened to her, how did Anna Politkovskaya manage to stay alive and publish all that she did as long as she did? She could not but have been one of the worst thorns in the side of Russia’s powerful. Knowing her final end, reading what she wrote, it seems so tragically inevitable that someone would try to silence her permanently.
The second question is, what are the democratic governments of the West doing, carrying on relations with Putin’s Russia as if it were a normal country? Perhaps it is no more than the idea that in its current state, it’s safer to keep Russia within the fold, rather than outside it.
There is no reason to suspect anything has changed since the book’s publication. Putin has managed to keep himself in power, while formally leaving the office of President in the proper way, by anointing a loyal protégé as his successor as president and becoming prime minister himself. Human rights forces continue to face pressure and opposition (a few years ago, the Moscow office of the international organization I worked for had to go through a confounding process of “re-registration” suddenly required for all human rights organizations operating in Russia). And terrorism remains a constant in Russia, with the most recent examples, as I write this, of a bombing at a theatre in Stavropol on May 26, 2010, and two subway bombings in Moscow in March 2010.
As I mentioned at the outset, A Russian Diary should be required reading for anyone with an interest in current world politics. However, last and absolutely not least, the book is a critical statement of the indispensability of a free press in any society. It is a powerful testimony to the fierce heroism of tenacious and committed journalists around the world, who never cease to amaze me with their unwillingness to let go of the story of abuse of power, even at the cost of extreme risk to themselves. The lack of an adequate press in Russia has to be included among the reasons for its current condition, and Politkovskaya’s book shows how desperately a strong, free press is needed. While successive waves of formerly “opposition” politicians – erstwhile champions of democracy – gave in to political pressure to join the pro-Putin choir, and other journalists and news outlets self-censored and shrank away from reporting facts uncomfortable to the Putin administration, Anna Politkovskaya relentlessly continued to pull back the curtain on the Great and Powerful Oz every chance she got. A Russian Diary shows her to be uncompromising and unstoppable – until, that is, someone found a way to stop her forever, with an assassin’s bullet, on October 7, 2006. Her work and life demonstrate the power of the pen to strike fear in to the hearts of dictators and tyrants of all stripes.
A year before his defection to the West in 1951, the Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz wrote, “Do not feel safe. The poet remembers.” In this case, it's the journalist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You Who Wronged
Czeslaw Milosz
You who wronged a simple man
Bursting into laughter at the crime,
And kept a pack of fools around you
To mix good and evil, to blur the line,
Though everyone bowed down before you,
Saying virtue and wisdom lit your way,
Striking gold medals in your honor,
Glad to have survived another day,
Do not feel safe. The poet remembers.
You can kill one, but another is born.
The words are written down, the deed, the date.
And you’d have done better with a winter dawn,
A rope, and a branch bowed beneath your weight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quotes
As long as this review is, I can't help making it even longer by including some quotes. There are so many I didn't know where to begin -- or where to stop, evidently...
p. 107:
"This whole system of thieving judges, rigged elections, presidents who have only contempt for the needs of their people can operate only if nobody protests."
p. 110:
[Politkovskaya published frames a from a video made by a Russian soldier in Chechnya in 2000, showing Russian soldiers tormenting a group of prisoners of war they had already beaten horribly.:]
"What happened when the frames from this record of our own Abu Ghraib were published? Nothing. Nobody turned a hair, neither the public, nor the media, nor the Procurator’s Office. Many foreign journalists borrowed the video from me, and in Poland the headline over the pictures was “The Russian Abu Ghraib.” In Russia there was silence."
p. 156:
"What is emerging in Russia is not a stabilizing middle class, but a new class consisting of parents whose children have died in terrorist acts."
p. 184:
"People didn’t elect Yeltsin in 1996 because they believed in his prescription for taking the country forward, but because they feared what might happen if the Communists got back in. Government resources were shamelessly exploited, national television stations broadcast only in favor of Yeltsin and were in effect his campaign cheerleaders. People turned away in disgust when they saw how the ‘democratic’ parties kept silent about this travesty of democracy. A number of democrats even stated openly that it was reasonable to sacrifice the truth in order to save democracy.
This enthusiasm for sacrificing the truth caught on, and became the main force propelling Putin to power after Yeltsin proclaimed him is successor. The Kremlin took control of all television news coverage, with independent stations allowed only to provide entertainment, even when hundreds were being killed in Chechnya.
And that was the end of that. The election was based on trickery, fraudulence, and state coercion. The democrats kept mum, trying to cling to their vestiges of power in the Duma and locally. They forfeited whatever was left of their authority, and the Russian people are now profoundly indifferent to all things political. That is the terrible legacy of 13 years of Russian democracy.
p. 246:
[In June 2005, the trial begins a group of young pro-democracy activists arrested after a demonstration in December 2004. The are charged with "organizing mass disorder." They are led into the courtroom chained together, and placed into barred “cages” for the accused.:]
"It has to be said that putting as-yet-unconvicted people in chains and cages seems something of an overreaction; not even terrorists and serial rapists are brought to court in chains. As we can see, those whom the state authorities really fear today are dissidents."
p. 287:
"Officially, 58 percent of those surveyed approve of the slogan ‘Russia for the Russians.’ Another 58 percent, when asked what they would do if they earned a decent salary, said they would immediately buy property abroad and emigrate."
June 7, 2015
I expect little has changed since Anna Politkovskaya wrote about the extent of the corruption, and the bullying, that was, when she wrote for the newspaper Novaya gazeta, an everyday feature of Putin's Russia. Exposing the use, and more often the abuse, of power was the very reason for being a reporter as far as Politkovskaya was concerned. She was brave to an extent that is almost difficult to comprehend because she must have known that her life was at risk and yet - a terrible question this - you have to wonder whether the pursuit of truth was worth the loss of her life? Nothing has changed in Russia. Putin is more powerful than ever. What, if only she could tell us, would Anna Politkovskaya say now?
November 2, 2019
Egyáltalán nem nevezném magam Oroszország/Szovjetunió szakértőnek, bár az tény, hogy az átlaghoz képest sokkal több orosz/szovjet témájú könyvet olvastam, olvasok. Nemcsak szépirodalmat és orosz klasszikusokat, de könnyebb történelmi műveket és kortárs vagy 20. század második felében írtakat is.* Érdekel. Az is érdekel, hogy lehetett egyben tartani, majd hogy lehet szétdarabolni a nagy birodalmat.
Politikával sokáig akkor foglalkoztam csak, mikor "muszáj" volt. Bár sokszor fülembe cseng Édesapám szava, mikor tizenévesen nagyképűen kijelentettem, hogy engem ugyan nem érdekel a politika: „Nem teheted meg, hogy ne érdekeljen. MINDEN politika.” Mostanában egyre inkább érzem, hogy igaza van, ez az, amit nem lehet el- vagy megkerülni. Minden politika.
Szóval rengeteget (össze)olvastam már mindarról, amivel ebben a naplóban találkoztam. Mégis hókon nyomott, részben, mert néhány összefüggésre eddig nem figyeltem fel, és részben, vagy inkább főként azért, mert fájt, amit olvastam. A kegyetlenségek, az emberek semmibevétele, bármilyen politikai, hadi, vagy akár üzleti célból való feláldozása, a hatalmon lévők cinizmusa ilyen töményen nehezen befogadható. Szüneteket kellett tartanom olvasás közben, hogy ne zúduljon mázsás súlyként rám. Sosem tudtam elvonatkoztatni attól, hogy ezek a körülmények napról napra körülveszik, nyomasztják, befolyásolják, megfélemlítik, ügyeskedésre késztetik az egyszerű, mindennapi embereket (akik talán szintén úgy gondolják, hogy ugyan mi közük nekik a politikához… - egészen addig, amíg a politika félelmetesen bele nem rondít az életükbe). Hogy csak a beszláni családokat említsem, akik vidáman, ünneplőbe öltözve megfogták gyerekeik kezét, hogy együtt elinduljanak a tanévnyitóra. És onnan minden család, sőt az egész város élete alapjaiban fordult fel. Nemcsak a tragédiát kellett feldolgozniuk, hanem azt is, hogy a hatalom fütyül rájuk, mert úgy vélik, ennyi áldozat nekik még belefér.
Attól sem tudtam egy percre sem elvonatkoztatni, hogy Anna Politkovszkaja 2006-ban egy bérgyilkos áldozata lett. Pont az történt vele, amiről olyan sokat írt ebben a naplóban is: útjában volt a hatalomnak, kényelmetlen lett nekik a szókimondása.
Nyáron Oroszországban jártunk. Moszkvában találkoztunk fiatal barátainkkal. Meséltek a moszkvai polgármester-választás körüli botrányokról, a tüntetésekről, amiket agyonhallgatnak az újságok, a rádió, tévé, egyedül az internet maradt még, mint az utolsó be nem vett eszköz, ahonnan erről tájékozódni lehet. És azt mondták: „igen, most jobb az élet, minden van, itt munka is van, még pénz is van – egyedül szabadság nincs.” Bejött a kapitalizmus, de visszajött az ötvenes évek diktatúrája is. Elvihetnek, bezárhatnak, megfoszthatnak mindenedtől….
Mit tehetnék még hozzá? Kerülném a napi politikai észrevételeket, így talán azt, ami itt motoszkált a fejemben, Illyés Gyula 1950-ben írt versét: "Hol zsarnokság van, ott zsarnokság van." Ismét aktuális lett.
"Hol zsarnokság van,
ott zsarnokság van
nemcsak a puskacsõben,
nemcsak a börtönökben,
nemcsak a vallató szobákban,
nemcsak az éjszakában
kiáltó őr szavában,
ott zsarnokság van..."
*Ez időnként odáig fajul, hogy épp most azon vettem észre magam, hogy egy hosszabb pihenőre utazva a magammal vitt könyvek nagyobbik fele orosz…
Politikával sokáig akkor foglalkoztam csak, mikor "muszáj" volt. Bár sokszor fülembe cseng Édesapám szava, mikor tizenévesen nagyképűen kijelentettem, hogy engem ugyan nem érdekel a politika: „Nem teheted meg, hogy ne érdekeljen. MINDEN politika.” Mostanában egyre inkább érzem, hogy igaza van, ez az, amit nem lehet el- vagy megkerülni. Minden politika.
Szóval rengeteget (össze)olvastam már mindarról, amivel ebben a naplóban találkoztam. Mégis hókon nyomott, részben, mert néhány összefüggésre eddig nem figyeltem fel, és részben, vagy inkább főként azért, mert fájt, amit olvastam. A kegyetlenségek, az emberek semmibevétele, bármilyen politikai, hadi, vagy akár üzleti célból való feláldozása, a hatalmon lévők cinizmusa ilyen töményen nehezen befogadható. Szüneteket kellett tartanom olvasás közben, hogy ne zúduljon mázsás súlyként rám. Sosem tudtam elvonatkoztatni attól, hogy ezek a körülmények napról napra körülveszik, nyomasztják, befolyásolják, megfélemlítik, ügyeskedésre késztetik az egyszerű, mindennapi embereket (akik talán szintén úgy gondolják, hogy ugyan mi közük nekik a politikához… - egészen addig, amíg a politika félelmetesen bele nem rondít az életükbe). Hogy csak a beszláni családokat említsem, akik vidáman, ünneplőbe öltözve megfogták gyerekeik kezét, hogy együtt elinduljanak a tanévnyitóra. És onnan minden család, sőt az egész város élete alapjaiban fordult fel. Nemcsak a tragédiát kellett feldolgozniuk, hanem azt is, hogy a hatalom fütyül rájuk, mert úgy vélik, ennyi áldozat nekik még belefér.
Attól sem tudtam egy percre sem elvonatkoztatni, hogy Anna Politkovszkaja 2006-ban egy bérgyilkos áldozata lett. Pont az történt vele, amiről olyan sokat írt ebben a naplóban is: útjában volt a hatalomnak, kényelmetlen lett nekik a szókimondása.
Nyáron Oroszországban jártunk. Moszkvában találkoztunk fiatal barátainkkal. Meséltek a moszkvai polgármester-választás körüli botrányokról, a tüntetésekről, amiket agyonhallgatnak az újságok, a rádió, tévé, egyedül az internet maradt még, mint az utolsó be nem vett eszköz, ahonnan erről tájékozódni lehet. És azt mondták: „igen, most jobb az élet, minden van, itt munka is van, még pénz is van – egyedül szabadság nincs.” Bejött a kapitalizmus, de visszajött az ötvenes évek diktatúrája is. Elvihetnek, bezárhatnak, megfoszthatnak mindenedtől….
Mit tehetnék még hozzá? Kerülném a napi politikai észrevételeket, így talán azt, ami itt motoszkált a fejemben, Illyés Gyula 1950-ben írt versét: "Hol zsarnokság van, ott zsarnokság van." Ismét aktuális lett.
"Hol zsarnokság van,
ott zsarnokság van
nemcsak a puskacsõben,
nemcsak a börtönökben,
nemcsak a vallató szobákban,
nemcsak az éjszakában
kiáltó őr szavában,
ott zsarnokság van..."
*Ez időnként odáig fajul, hogy épp most azon vettem észre magam, hogy egy hosszabb pihenőre utazva a magammal vitt könyvek nagyobbik fele orosz…
May 14, 2017
" To my way of thinking, a mushroom growing under a large leaf cannot just hope to sit it out. Almost certainly someone is going to spot it, cut it out, and devour it. If you were born a human being, you cannot behave like a mushroom."
Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in her apartment building in 2006. By all accounts it was a state contracted murder.
"A Russian Diary" was her final book detailing the horrors she witnessed during the years 2004-2005. These were years of brutal repression in Chechnya, the gassing of a Russian theater under siege, and the Beslan school attack which left scores of teachers and children dead. Most importantly it was the start of the second term of Vladimir Putin and the death of parliamentary democracy.
The outside world occasionally hears horror stories of vague atrocities happening in Russia but quite honestly, nothing can prepare you for the depth and scope of what is really happening here. Extrajudicial paramilitary groups kidnap and torture with the sanction of the government, war heroes are cast into the street, old women are burned alive in their apartments so oligarchs can develop the properties, political opponents are routinely either co-opted or simply executed, and so much more.
These are dark and horrible stories. Stories which Politkovskaya fearlessly detailed, at the cost of her own life. Politkovskaya's contempt for Putin and his sycophants is clear throughout but even more so is her disgust with everyday Russians who refuse to stand up and take back their country. Those with which she describes as "...a lazy refusal to take your backside off a chair in a warm kitchen until they take the warm kitchen away from you. At that point you may join a revolution, but not before."
This isn't a book I would "recommend" but it is a very important book that anyone who fears democracy sliding into an authoritarian state has to read.
Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in her apartment building in 2006. By all accounts it was a state contracted murder.
"A Russian Diary" was her final book detailing the horrors she witnessed during the years 2004-2005. These were years of brutal repression in Chechnya, the gassing of a Russian theater under siege, and the Beslan school attack which left scores of teachers and children dead. Most importantly it was the start of the second term of Vladimir Putin and the death of parliamentary democracy.
The outside world occasionally hears horror stories of vague atrocities happening in Russia but quite honestly, nothing can prepare you for the depth and scope of what is really happening here. Extrajudicial paramilitary groups kidnap and torture with the sanction of the government, war heroes are cast into the street, old women are burned alive in their apartments so oligarchs can develop the properties, political opponents are routinely either co-opted or simply executed, and so much more.
These are dark and horrible stories. Stories which Politkovskaya fearlessly detailed, at the cost of her own life. Politkovskaya's contempt for Putin and his sycophants is clear throughout but even more so is her disgust with everyday Russians who refuse to stand up and take back their country. Those with which she describes as "...a lazy refusal to take your backside off a chair in a warm kitchen until they take the warm kitchen away from you. At that point you may join a revolution, but not before."
This isn't a book I would "recommend" but it is a very important book that anyone who fears democracy sliding into an authoritarian state has to read.
January 23, 2008
Fantastic book. Very very sad. I don't really have the words to capture the emotions contained within this book. If you think the US sucks, check this out. I mean, I know it's useless to compare apples to oranges, but it certainly helps to put things in perspective.
May 23, 2022
Sinossi editoriale
"Diario russo" è il testamento morale di Anna Politkovskaja, ma anche la spiegazione implicita del suo assassinio, avvenuto il 7 ottobre 2006 e rimasto impunito. Il libro ricostruisce infatti in dettaglio, su basi rigorosamente documentarie, anni cruciali della storia russa contemporanea. Rispetto alla Russia di Putin, questa volta la verità sul Paese non si rivela attraverso un affresco polifonico, storie convergenti che solo alla fine individuano il loro motore immobile nella figura di Putin. Qui la prospettiva è rovesciata: si parte dal centro stesso del potere, documentando giorno per giorno lo scaltro gioco politico che ha portato alla morte della democrazia parlamentare russa e al progressivo contrarsi della libertà di informazione. Una morte annunciata già nel 1999, ma divenuta palese con l’elezione pilotata della Quarta Duma nel dicembre 2003 e l’indebolimento del fronte democratico. L’esplosione nella metropolitana di Mosca, il crollo del Parco acquatico di Jasenevo, l’insabbiamento dell’inchiesta sull’eccidio al teatro Dubrovka, l’assassinio del presidente ceceno Achmet Kadyrov e l’eccezionale intervista a suo figlio Ramzan, le testimonianze sul sequestro di Beslan, le cosiddette «azioni terroristiche di Al-Qaeda nel Caucaso»: sono solo alcune tappe di un viaggio perturbante nella storia di ieri. E la formula del diario permette di ricostruire i passaggi intermedi di avvenimenti che hanno sconvolto la Russia e insieme le loro connessioni con la politica, spesso sfuggite ai media occidentali. Passione civile, pertinace ricerca della verità, coraggio davanti al pericolo, volontà di giustizia hanno fatto di Anna Politkovskaja non solo «la coscienza morale perduta della Russia» – come qualcuno ha scritto – ma, ancor meglio, la coscienza morale «salvata» della sua terra.
Un libro che mette i brividi. Onore a questa donna.
"Diario russo" è il testamento morale di Anna Politkovskaja, ma anche la spiegazione implicita del suo assassinio, avvenuto il 7 ottobre 2006 e rimasto impunito. Il libro ricostruisce infatti in dettaglio, su basi rigorosamente documentarie, anni cruciali della storia russa contemporanea. Rispetto alla Russia di Putin, questa volta la verità sul Paese non si rivela attraverso un affresco polifonico, storie convergenti che solo alla fine individuano il loro motore immobile nella figura di Putin. Qui la prospettiva è rovesciata: si parte dal centro stesso del potere, documentando giorno per giorno lo scaltro gioco politico che ha portato alla morte della democrazia parlamentare russa e al progressivo contrarsi della libertà di informazione. Una morte annunciata già nel 1999, ma divenuta palese con l’elezione pilotata della Quarta Duma nel dicembre 2003 e l’indebolimento del fronte democratico. L’esplosione nella metropolitana di Mosca, il crollo del Parco acquatico di Jasenevo, l’insabbiamento dell’inchiesta sull’eccidio al teatro Dubrovka, l’assassinio del presidente ceceno Achmet Kadyrov e l’eccezionale intervista a suo figlio Ramzan, le testimonianze sul sequestro di Beslan, le cosiddette «azioni terroristiche di Al-Qaeda nel Caucaso»: sono solo alcune tappe di un viaggio perturbante nella storia di ieri. E la formula del diario permette di ricostruire i passaggi intermedi di avvenimenti che hanno sconvolto la Russia e insieme le loro connessioni con la politica, spesso sfuggite ai media occidentali. Passione civile, pertinace ricerca della verità, coraggio davanti al pericolo, volontà di giustizia hanno fatto di Anna Politkovskaja non solo «la coscienza morale perduta della Russia» – come qualcuno ha scritto – ma, ancor meglio, la coscienza morale «salvata» della sua terra.
Un libro che mette i brividi. Onore a questa donna.
April 27, 2022
A difficult read. Because:
(1) it is not organized on themes/issues, but chronologically (as it is a diary), so we jump from a court case to a terrorist attack to a political march on the same page. It is tough to follow. It gets fragmented and repetitive;
(2) it often sounds clumsy in English. I've noticed this with many Russian books, they sound much better in Romanian. I will not make any assumptions. I just wish I could read the original;
(3) the topics themselves are difficult. And the conclusion is grim: there's no chance of an Orange Revolution in Russia. However it will be (Anna P. bets on the Communists or those in the apparatus to overthrow Putin at some point - possibly -, because the ordinary Russians are just too lazy and scared to do anything), it will be red. Bloody.
These are the difficulties. And then there is Anna's courage to investigate these issues, knowing she could be killed for it - as she was - that will live forever with all of us, as long as we are still reading her work.
For a better understanding of the topics she investigates (Putin's mobster politics, the abuse against the people of Russia, corruption, terrorism, the war in Chechnya and other military/political phenomena in the former Soviet territories), I recommend her book "Putin's Russia". It is a much clearer and easier read.
(1) it is not organized on themes/issues, but chronologically (as it is a diary), so we jump from a court case to a terrorist attack to a political march on the same page. It is tough to follow. It gets fragmented and repetitive;
(2) it often sounds clumsy in English. I've noticed this with many Russian books, they sound much better in Romanian. I will not make any assumptions. I just wish I could read the original;
(3) the topics themselves are difficult. And the conclusion is grim: there's no chance of an Orange Revolution in Russia. However it will be (Anna P. bets on the Communists or those in the apparatus to overthrow Putin at some point - possibly -, because the ordinary Russians are just too lazy and scared to do anything), it will be red. Bloody.
These are the difficulties. And then there is Anna's courage to investigate these issues, knowing she could be killed for it - as she was - that will live forever with all of us, as long as we are still reading her work.
For a better understanding of the topics she investigates (Putin's mobster politics, the abuse against the people of Russia, corruption, terrorism, the war in Chechnya and other military/political phenomena in the former Soviet territories), I recommend her book "Putin's Russia". It is a much clearer and easier read.
January 18, 2009
This book is indeed Anna Politkovskaya's diary; a depressing story of life in Russia during the Putin years. Politkovskaya was a journalist prior to her assassination (which occurred shortly after this book was published). She details the break down of democracy in Russia, with close attention to the role of both state-sponsored and terrorist violence. She includes much detail not available elsewhere about life in Russia in the early 21st century.
August 17, 2020
O jornalismo vale mais do que uma vida?
Um dia de cada vez foi o formato escolhido por Anna para compor o seu livro. Não há capítulos, apenas aberturas de um diário e uma preocupação: a sociedade russa está doente.
A. Politkovskaya era uma jornalista russa, descrita por Salman Rushdie como alguém que “revelou verdades humanas que reescreveram a história oficial”. Escreveu Um Diário Russo durante o período que medeia entre as eleições legislativas fraudulentas de 2003 e o final do verão de 2005, até ser assassinada.
É essencial entender, mesmo que superficialmente, as diversas guerras internas nos novos países da antiga URSS, tal como as duas guerras na Chechénia (a segunda sendo obra de Vladimir Putin). Farei um vídeo sobre isso.
Anna não recorre a eufemismos quando avalia episódios de guerra, pois escolheu viver na luz da verdade e não na sombra do arrepio. Deste modo, desmascara o Kremlin e a oligarquia de Putin, por agirem de acordo com os seus interesses corporativos, assassinando, sequestrando, censurando e mutilando vidas incontáveis de pessoas.
O segredo de um imperador contemporâneo é criar uma proximidade sobremaneira forte com as instituições, que estas acabem por ter dificuldade em dizer não e perder o discernimento. É o que se chama de pseudo-liberdade partidária e eleitoral. Ademais, recorre à última ratio política: a propaganda racista e xenófoba, retomando a guerra ao terrorismo de Bush-Blair - foi assim que cometeu ataques indiscriminados à Chechénia e dela sempre dependeu. É imperioso existir um inimigo para elevar a figura do noveau imperador.
Li sobre orfandade, comunicação social reprimida, militares esquartejados, civis desaparecidos e entrevistas variadas. Fala-se do cerco do Dubrovka, commumente conhecido como a tomada de reféns no musical Nord-Ost, no qual o governo de Putin sentiu tédio de toda a situação, decidindo matar todas as pessoas, reféns e terroristas. E não esquecer a Ingúchia, que faz fronteira com a Chechénia, tornando-se palco de variados crimes pela sua estrutura essencialmente muçulmana sunita; ou do massacre de Beslan, uma escola destruída porque, de novo, o governo russo preferiu não ponderar as suas ações.
Anna era pessimista e tinha motivos para tal. “Se alguém pensar que pode encontrar conforto na previsão otimista, que o faça. É certamente a maneira mais fácil, mas é também uma sentença de morte para os nossos netos”.
October 24, 2008
It is her diary that spanned the time period December 2003 to summer 2005. She barely speaks about herself, only about the policies and its effects, the people crushed under a heartless regime. One by one she speaks about the disappearing freedoms and a return to the political tactics of the USSR.
Unbelieveable, the extreme that the russian people live under. It is not a democracy, it is a farce. The sad part is, it is the grim truth.
It also covers the period of time during the Beslan school massacre. I remember looking in horror at it in those days... she tells the unheard stories, the total disregard of survivors and victims families by the state. All they seem to expend energy on is covering their asses, trying to shift blame to others.
With such power and wealth, what have the russian leaders done? what do any leaders with such a monopoly of power do? why do the people not stand up? I find echoes of this attitude everywhere in the world. Why do poeple who could influence those in power- why don't they say something, apply positive pressure? It's a bully mentality taken to the national level...
why do people believe propaganda and settle for crumbs?
Unbelieveable, the extreme that the russian people live under. It is not a democracy, it is a farce. The sad part is, it is the grim truth.
It also covers the period of time during the Beslan school massacre. I remember looking in horror at it in those days... she tells the unheard stories, the total disregard of survivors and victims families by the state. All they seem to expend energy on is covering their asses, trying to shift blame to others.
With such power and wealth, what have the russian leaders done? what do any leaders with such a monopoly of power do? why do the people not stand up? I find echoes of this attitude everywhere in the world. Why do poeple who could influence those in power- why don't they say something, apply positive pressure? It's a bully mentality taken to the national level...
why do people believe propaganda and settle for crumbs?
January 24, 2012
Da molto volevo leggere un libro di Anna Politkovskaja e quando quest'estate m'è capitato fra le mani Diario Russo l'ho letteralmente divorato.
La Politkovskaja unisce straordinaria lucidità a un impegno fuori dal comune, creando pagine appassionanti tanto da sembrare un romanzo a pezzi, quando invece sono mera cronaca (vera, normale, agghiacciante) di un biennio vissuto in una nazione a pezzi, tenuta insieme dal collante della corruzione più diffusa, della povertà indotta e del silenzio forzato, conditi da terrore e orrore più o meno latenti.
Mi chiedo se gli "amici" di Putin l'abbiano letto, questo Diario, e con che coraggio possano fare finta di nulla.
E mi viene voglia di chiudere il rubinetto del gas, vero movente.
(Nota per me: smettila di lamentarti del paese in cui vivi. Ringrazia, ancora non siamo la Russia)
La Politkovskaja unisce straordinaria lucidità a un impegno fuori dal comune, creando pagine appassionanti tanto da sembrare un romanzo a pezzi, quando invece sono mera cronaca (vera, normale, agghiacciante) di un biennio vissuto in una nazione a pezzi, tenuta insieme dal collante della corruzione più diffusa, della povertà indotta e del silenzio forzato, conditi da terrore e orrore più o meno latenti.
Mi chiedo se gli "amici" di Putin l'abbiano letto, questo Diario, e con che coraggio possano fare finta di nulla.
E mi viene voglia di chiudere il rubinetto del gas, vero movente.
(Nota per me: smettila di lamentarti del paese in cui vivi. Ringrazia, ancora non siamo la Russia)
November 7, 2022
One wishes that the issues the heroic journalist was writing about so long ago would have come to feel more dated. They haven’t of course. Nothing has changed. Things have just gotten worse.
April 2, 2016
Four stars not because of the particularly fantastic writing (it's a diary obviously), but because of the level of consistent coverage of Putin's and his mafia-like government's contempt for human life, and critique of the Russian political scene.
After having read the book, I can only imagine the enormous political and social pressure Anna must have been under throughout her career. The book reveals some of the most heinous crimes committed against the people, especially the poor and ethnic minorities by the Russia State apparatus with the Kremlin's direct approval.
In this book, she provided consistent accounts of the arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and murder of people living in the south of Russia, especially the Chechen and Ingush people by government backed militias and the FSB. Their victims include children, men and women of all ages and occupations. The book documents some of the most horrendous cases of abuse and murder committed against young men conscripted to the Russian Army (which I previously had no idea about).
Throughout her diary, Anna expresses her disheartened regret at her fellow Russians who have emerged from socialism as thoroughly self-centred people who only react when something affects them personally.
Her argument reminds me of what Vasily Aksyonov wrote in his novel, Generations of Winter - 'Nothing special is happening. The only thing that's happening is a silent conspiracy of millions upon millions of people who have reached a tacit agreement that nothing is happening. Anything unusual that is happening is to the guilty, but we're all right, everything is normal. And yet it is not only the arrest victims who are being tortured, but all of us'. It seems like things have changed very little in Russia since the days of the Soviet Union, except now the West legitimacies Putin's actions.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in human rights, Russia or would like to open their eyes to a harrowing life of struggle, sadness, lies and lack of human dignity.
After having read the book, I can only imagine the enormous political and social pressure Anna must have been under throughout her career. The book reveals some of the most heinous crimes committed against the people, especially the poor and ethnic minorities by the Russia State apparatus with the Kremlin's direct approval.
In this book, she provided consistent accounts of the arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and murder of people living in the south of Russia, especially the Chechen and Ingush people by government backed militias and the FSB. Their victims include children, men and women of all ages and occupations. The book documents some of the most horrendous cases of abuse and murder committed against young men conscripted to the Russian Army (which I previously had no idea about).
Throughout her diary, Anna expresses her disheartened regret at her fellow Russians who have emerged from socialism as thoroughly self-centred people who only react when something affects them personally.
Her argument reminds me of what Vasily Aksyonov wrote in his novel, Generations of Winter - 'Nothing special is happening. The only thing that's happening is a silent conspiracy of millions upon millions of people who have reached a tacit agreement that nothing is happening. Anything unusual that is happening is to the guilty, but we're all right, everything is normal. And yet it is not only the arrest victims who are being tortured, but all of us'. It seems like things have changed very little in Russia since the days of the Soviet Union, except now the West legitimacies Putin's actions.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in human rights, Russia or would like to open their eyes to a harrowing life of struggle, sadness, lies and lack of human dignity.
September 13, 2018
A Russian Diary presents a view of Russian society that would be intimately familiar to Winston Smith.
It describes a war in Chechnya is fought against an unknown enemy by government forces seeking to expand their authority and influence and thus frequently at war against themselves. Bombings in apartments in Moscow are indicated to have been carried out by the security services at the behest of a leader looking to gain and consolidate power and to appeal to the people as the only one willing and able to defeat this unknown enemy. The handling of theatre and school sieges, with death tolls in the hundreds, are bungled by the same security apparatus looking to expand its own powers and hide any evidence of its own involvement. People are frequently picked up by armed militia and never heard from again.
Journalists and political opponents are bought and those who resist or attempt to maintain any semblance of independence are arrested on trumped up charges- former oligarchs being no exception. Parliament is a sham, openly described as a means for consolidation of power for the supreme leader. Elections are orchestrated with a shocking boldness, leaving ordinary Russians to be completely disillusioned by the political system, causing them to give up any interest in political involvement , thus further consolidating the leader’s power.
Politkovskaya's insight into the thoughts of these Russians, reminiscing the good old days of the Soviet Union, while waiting for a revolution but uninterested in the starting their own, is horrifying.
A Russian Diary is a representation of a society as close to Orwell's 1984 as possible.
It describes a war in Chechnya is fought against an unknown enemy by government forces seeking to expand their authority and influence and thus frequently at war against themselves. Bombings in apartments in Moscow are indicated to have been carried out by the security services at the behest of a leader looking to gain and consolidate power and to appeal to the people as the only one willing and able to defeat this unknown enemy. The handling of theatre and school sieges, with death tolls in the hundreds, are bungled by the same security apparatus looking to expand its own powers and hide any evidence of its own involvement. People are frequently picked up by armed militia and never heard from again.
Journalists and political opponents are bought and those who resist or attempt to maintain any semblance of independence are arrested on trumped up charges- former oligarchs being no exception. Parliament is a sham, openly described as a means for consolidation of power for the supreme leader. Elections are orchestrated with a shocking boldness, leaving ordinary Russians to be completely disillusioned by the political system, causing them to give up any interest in political involvement , thus further consolidating the leader’s power.
Politkovskaya's insight into the thoughts of these Russians, reminiscing the good old days of the Soviet Union, while waiting for a revolution but uninterested in the starting their own, is horrifying.
A Russian Diary is a representation of a society as close to Orwell's 1984 as possible.
November 5, 2007
The Russian Diaries chronicles the declining political situation in Russia. After Politkovskaya’s violent death in October 2006, her editor published her personal journal documenting Russian political developments; presumably these notes were reference points for her various articles and projects.
Politkovskaya assesses the Putin regime and how it survives, detailing its political ploys and strategies. She analyzes the Russian political environment that gave rise to the Putin and his power base. She insists that the Russian people are responsible for the current situation and the political change that must come if it is to change.
At times the book is very difficult to read because Politkovskaya is relentless in her bleak documentation and analysis. Nevertheless, it’s clear that the situation demands a voice like hers. She is a patriot who perseveres, even as she acknowledges that her efforts will have little effect on the situation.
On a personal note - It is easy to get frustrated with U.S. government and politics. This book reminded me how lucky I am to live in a country with a functional political system, however flawed it may be.
Politkovskaya assesses the Putin regime and how it survives, detailing its political ploys and strategies. She analyzes the Russian political environment that gave rise to the Putin and his power base. She insists that the Russian people are responsible for the current situation and the political change that must come if it is to change.
At times the book is very difficult to read because Politkovskaya is relentless in her bleak documentation and analysis. Nevertheless, it’s clear that the situation demands a voice like hers. She is a patriot who perseveres, even as she acknowledges that her efforts will have little effect on the situation.
On a personal note - It is easy to get frustrated with U.S. government and politics. This book reminded me how lucky I am to live in a country with a functional political system, however flawed it may be.
October 8, 2008
This book is horrifying and deeply tragic. It is also a lucid, intelligent account of the unravelling of the future of Russia. A must-read, and it is even more relevant now that we are a few years further into Putin's takeover.
November 20, 2016
Anna aprašo tik faktus, beveik be jokių papildomų epitetų, nukrypimų, emocionalių aprašymų. Tačiau faktai patys tokie iškalbingi, kad skaitydama tai pykau, tai bijojau, tai vėl pykau ir vėl bijojau.
April 11, 2024
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot in the head while entering the lift of her apartment building in Moscow in 2006. Coincidentally, the day she was killed just happened to be Putin's birthday.
Politkovskaya asked probing questions that Putin's regime could not allow to be openly asked. Until her assassination, she worked to expose corruption & human rights abuses across Russia. She was vociferous in her criticism of the war in Chechnya, and in holding Putin's government accountable. Already it seems many are forgetting her name and the significance of her legacy.
This book is her personal account of events in Russia, up until her murder.
Here were some excerpts that stood out to me:
"The Rose Revolution has triumphed in Georgia and Saakashvili is celebrating victory...this is a wake-up call to the heads of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. All those sitting around the table with Putin are well aware of this. There is a limit to how long you can trample people underfoot. When they really want change, there is nothing you can do to stop it. Is this what they are afraid of?"
"One of the reasons for Russia's social malaise is this diabolical cynicism on the part of the authorities, who peddle a completely fake reality. Russia's citizens do not rise up against this cynicism. They withdraw into their own shells, becoming defenseless, wordless, and inhibited. Putin knows this and employs brazen cynicism as the antirevolutionary technique that works best in Russia."
"The Ukrainian Orange Revolution of December 2004 put an end to the Great Russian Political Depression. Society was shaken out of its torpor: everybody so envied them their Maidan Square. 'For heaven's sake, why aren't we like them in Ukraine?' people asked. 'They're just the same as us, only...'
Only, it all turned out differently. While the former imperial capital continued to delude itself that its ex-colony would stay in line, the ex-colonials underwent a remarkable transformation and developed into a nation."
"It is still a moot point what will bring about the demise of this regime. How will it collapse? The present opposition is too weak and lacking in purpose to bring it down. Spontaneous protest from the Russian people appears even less likely. One possibility is that, if Putin does construct a neo-Soviet system, it may collapse, as before, through economic inefficiency.
The main problem is that while collapse is inevitable, we will not see it in our lifetime. That's a pity, because we would like to."
"People often tell me I am a pessimist; that I do not believe in the strength of the Russian people; that I am obsessive in my opposition to Putin and see nothing beyond that.
I see everything, and that is the whole problem. I see both what is good and what is bad. I see that people would like life to change for the better but are incapable of making that happen, and that in order to conceal this truth they concentrate on the positive and pretend the negative isn't there.
By 2016 many of my generation may no longer be around, but our children will be alive, as will our grandchildren. Do we really not care what kind of life they will have, or even whether they will have a life at all?"
I can only imagine what Politkovskaya would have to say about Putin's actions today.
Politkovskaya asked probing questions that Putin's regime could not allow to be openly asked. Until her assassination, she worked to expose corruption & human rights abuses across Russia. She was vociferous in her criticism of the war in Chechnya, and in holding Putin's government accountable. Already it seems many are forgetting her name and the significance of her legacy.
This book is her personal account of events in Russia, up until her murder.
Here were some excerpts that stood out to me:
"The Rose Revolution has triumphed in Georgia and Saakashvili is celebrating victory...this is a wake-up call to the heads of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. All those sitting around the table with Putin are well aware of this. There is a limit to how long you can trample people underfoot. When they really want change, there is nothing you can do to stop it. Is this what they are afraid of?"
"One of the reasons for Russia's social malaise is this diabolical cynicism on the part of the authorities, who peddle a completely fake reality. Russia's citizens do not rise up against this cynicism. They withdraw into their own shells, becoming defenseless, wordless, and inhibited. Putin knows this and employs brazen cynicism as the antirevolutionary technique that works best in Russia."
"The Ukrainian Orange Revolution of December 2004 put an end to the Great Russian Political Depression. Society was shaken out of its torpor: everybody so envied them their Maidan Square. 'For heaven's sake, why aren't we like them in Ukraine?' people asked. 'They're just the same as us, only...'
Only, it all turned out differently. While the former imperial capital continued to delude itself that its ex-colony would stay in line, the ex-colonials underwent a remarkable transformation and developed into a nation."
"It is still a moot point what will bring about the demise of this regime. How will it collapse? The present opposition is too weak and lacking in purpose to bring it down. Spontaneous protest from the Russian people appears even less likely. One possibility is that, if Putin does construct a neo-Soviet system, it may collapse, as before, through economic inefficiency.
The main problem is that while collapse is inevitable, we will not see it in our lifetime. That's a pity, because we would like to."
"People often tell me I am a pessimist; that I do not believe in the strength of the Russian people; that I am obsessive in my opposition to Putin and see nothing beyond that.
I see everything, and that is the whole problem. I see both what is good and what is bad. I see that people would like life to change for the better but are incapable of making that happen, and that in order to conceal this truth they concentrate on the positive and pretend the negative isn't there.
By 2016 many of my generation may no longer be around, but our children will be alive, as will our grandchildren. Do we really not care what kind of life they will have, or even whether they will have a life at all?"
I can only imagine what Politkovskaya would have to say about Putin's actions today.
May 31, 2023
Tiek jau visko perskaičiau apie ankstyvąjį Putino valdymo laikotarpį, bet vis negana, nes čia juk Politkovskaja. Šįkart labiausiai įstrigo rusų žiaurumai Čečėnijoje. Visiška anarchija ir chaosas, kuris palaiminamas iš aukščiau. Visa bėda, kad Čečėnija nesidomėta jos karų metu, nes dabar vyksta tas pats, ir kai kas buvo nustebę tokiu kareivių elgesiu Ukrainoje. Rusijoje autoritarinis režimas pilnu tempu veikia jau apie 15 metų. Atsižvelgiant į tai lengviau suprasti, kodėl rusai tokie išplautasmegeniai ir bevaliai.
Nukrypau. Arba ne. Žodžiu, geras dienoraštis. Atrodo, skaitai apie alternatyviąją realybę.
Nukrypau. Arba ne. Žodžiu, geras dienoraštis. Atrodo, skaitai apie alternatyviąją realybę.
July 15, 2024
Um relato devastador de uma sociedade absolutamente silenciada pelo aparelho de estado russo que engloba oligarcas, jornalistas pagos, corruptos, paus mandados de Putin, autoridades, tribunais, etc. Numa lógica de quem não está por mim, está contra mim, Putin apoderou se como um magnânimo Czar com olhos em todo o lado, julgando sumariamente com o apoio de milícias todos os que se lhe opõem.
Quem quer compreender um pouco da Europa dos dias de hoje não pode deixar de ler esta obra .
Quem quer compreender um pouco da Europa dos dias de hoje não pode deixar de ler esta obra .
November 11, 2021
This one was difficult to rate, but just based on how much bile it made my body produce and raise I had to give it a 5.
If you live in a slavic country many many things in this book will sound familiar. By that I don't mean the brutality and the everpresent violence, but the governmental apparatus that looms behind everything and the series of apparatchiks that still haven't left the stage, even after 31 years.
A dark dark book with so many instances of "I can't read this" and "why am I reading this?" that you just have to pick it up.
And knowing her fate in the end, even more impactful.
From Blog
Ana Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist working for Novaya Gazeta – even today one of the last remaining independent newspapers in Russia. She was an investigative journalist and Kremiln critic whose reports on political happenings caught the eye of the most powerful people in Russia. She was assissinated in 2006. Her murderers were sentenced to life in prison in 2014, but the people who ordered the killing are still unknown.
The Russian Diary was completed just before she was killed. It offers a stunning overview of the period from Russian parliamentary elections in December 2003 to late 2005.
The book opens with Politkovskaya’s account of the “death of democracy” in Russia. Following Putin’s party’s win at the elections she argues that any irregularities that could have been proven were not brought to light because the judiciary was already firmly in Putin’s grasp that nothing would have happened with those proofs. She also reflects on Putin’s statement that “the Parliament is not a place for debate, but for legislative tidying up.” She also laments that “Russian electorate […] was also missing Big Brother.
The electorate was disappointed by the events following the dissolution of USSR. The ever-present corruption, oligarch getting filthy rich while the little people suffer… this is what “democracy” had brought them. So having a “strongman” take charge and start cleaning the society is preferable to what they have. “The Russian people gave its consent” to this change in Russia. Sadly, the strongman is just another oligarch creating wealth for himself and his friends and people are still no better off.
“Our people have been exhausted by having political and economic experiments conducted on them they want very much to live better lives, but do not want to have to fight for that. They expect everything to come down to them from above,, and if what comes from above is repression, they resign themselves to it.”
To a person living in a former Yugoslav republic – this sounds very VERY familiar.
The second large topic covered in this book is the Russia’s war in Chechnya – the actions taken by the Russian soldiers, the public support (or lack of care) for the military action, and above all the treatment of the soldiers and veterans. It is truly not easy to read about the conditions these soldiers are in. You read about the atrocities committed but then you read about how the powers in Moscow just don’t take care of the pawns that are sent to do their “dirty work.” Do you feel sorry for the Chechen? For the soldiers? She makes you ask yourself many questions throughout this book.
The third large topic was the leadup and aftermath of the 2004 attack on a school in Beslan. She reported on the unrest in several parts of Russia and around Beslan in particular. She gives a detailed account of the events as they took place during the hostage crisis, the way the army dealt with the crisis and the subsequent chaos. She talked to parents and families of the children killed in the attack and followed up with their failed attempts to find out the truth. Her reporting is rew and hits you very hard. There were moments when I just couldn’t continue reading, I needed a break from all the pain, so be warned.
I am by no means an expert on Russia, not even close, but this was a heartwrenching way of getting a glimpse into the minds of average Russians. I’m not talking about their thoughts on the government or on the image the country has in the world. That is besides the point. You get an honest account of what it is like to be a “nobody” in Russia today. The costs of living, travelling, food, and shelter; the insecurities that come with living in different regions; the feeling of being forgotten, abandoned by the very same people who put medals on your chests…. All this is very difficult to read but well worth the read.
I have purposefully avoided talking about the Chechen president and “cat-loser”, despite the fact that a large portion of this book was about him and despite him being one of the suspected “masterminds” behind Politkovskaya’s murder. The reason being – it is just too painful and absurd and I don’t know enough… I’ll leave it up to you to do your own research on that topic.
To end this in Poitikovskaya’s words from the section entitled “Am I Afraid?”
“I see that people would like life to change for the better, but are incapable of making that happen, and that in order to conceal this truth they concentrate on the positive and pretend the negative isn’t there.”
If you live in a slavic country many many things in this book will sound familiar. By that I don't mean the brutality and the everpresent violence, but the governmental apparatus that looms behind everything and the series of apparatchiks that still haven't left the stage, even after 31 years.
A dark dark book with so many instances of "I can't read this" and "why am I reading this?" that you just have to pick it up.
And knowing her fate in the end, even more impactful.
From Blog
Ana Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist working for Novaya Gazeta – even today one of the last remaining independent newspapers in Russia. She was an investigative journalist and Kremiln critic whose reports on political happenings caught the eye of the most powerful people in Russia. She was assissinated in 2006. Her murderers were sentenced to life in prison in 2014, but the people who ordered the killing are still unknown.
The Russian Diary was completed just before she was killed. It offers a stunning overview of the period from Russian parliamentary elections in December 2003 to late 2005.
The book opens with Politkovskaya’s account of the “death of democracy” in Russia. Following Putin’s party’s win at the elections she argues that any irregularities that could have been proven were not brought to light because the judiciary was already firmly in Putin’s grasp that nothing would have happened with those proofs. She also reflects on Putin’s statement that “the Parliament is not a place for debate, but for legislative tidying up.” She also laments that “Russian electorate […] was also missing Big Brother.
The electorate was disappointed by the events following the dissolution of USSR. The ever-present corruption, oligarch getting filthy rich while the little people suffer… this is what “democracy” had brought them. So having a “strongman” take charge and start cleaning the society is preferable to what they have. “The Russian people gave its consent” to this change in Russia. Sadly, the strongman is just another oligarch creating wealth for himself and his friends and people are still no better off.
“Our people have been exhausted by having political and economic experiments conducted on them they want very much to live better lives, but do not want to have to fight for that. They expect everything to come down to them from above,, and if what comes from above is repression, they resign themselves to it.”
To a person living in a former Yugoslav republic – this sounds very VERY familiar.
The second large topic covered in this book is the Russia’s war in Chechnya – the actions taken by the Russian soldiers, the public support (or lack of care) for the military action, and above all the treatment of the soldiers and veterans. It is truly not easy to read about the conditions these soldiers are in. You read about the atrocities committed but then you read about how the powers in Moscow just don’t take care of the pawns that are sent to do their “dirty work.” Do you feel sorry for the Chechen? For the soldiers? She makes you ask yourself many questions throughout this book.
The third large topic was the leadup and aftermath of the 2004 attack on a school in Beslan. She reported on the unrest in several parts of Russia and around Beslan in particular. She gives a detailed account of the events as they took place during the hostage crisis, the way the army dealt with the crisis and the subsequent chaos. She talked to parents and families of the children killed in the attack and followed up with their failed attempts to find out the truth. Her reporting is rew and hits you very hard. There were moments when I just couldn’t continue reading, I needed a break from all the pain, so be warned.
I am by no means an expert on Russia, not even close, but this was a heartwrenching way of getting a glimpse into the minds of average Russians. I’m not talking about their thoughts on the government or on the image the country has in the world. That is besides the point. You get an honest account of what it is like to be a “nobody” in Russia today. The costs of living, travelling, food, and shelter; the insecurities that come with living in different regions; the feeling of being forgotten, abandoned by the very same people who put medals on your chests…. All this is very difficult to read but well worth the read.
I have purposefully avoided talking about the Chechen president and “cat-loser”, despite the fact that a large portion of this book was about him and despite him being one of the suspected “masterminds” behind Politkovskaya’s murder. The reason being – it is just too painful and absurd and I don’t know enough… I’ll leave it up to you to do your own research on that topic.
To end this in Poitikovskaya’s words from the section entitled “Am I Afraid?”
“I see that people would like life to change for the better, but are incapable of making that happen, and that in order to conceal this truth they concentrate on the positive and pretend the negative isn’t there.”
September 17, 2019
This book really opened my eyes to what Russia
is really like under Putin. There is massive corruption, repression, all kinds of injustices, no free press and a complete lack of concern for ordinary Russian people! There is no real democracy but a faux democracy where, for example, governors are chosen by Putin rather than elected by the people.
People brave enough to speak out about the injustices there are attacked, imprisoned, or in the author’s case, killed for writing about life in Russia today. Government-sanctioned criminals get away with murder of innocent people as the courts just do whatever they are told. Newspapers and TV stations are shut down and many journalists killed for reporting anything critical of the government.
The country is a police state run by a dictator. The Russian people deserve true freedoms such as the right to vote for their chosen leaders rather than being told who to vote for in local, regional and federal elections.
The truth about Russia today is becoming public knowledge thanks to author Anna Politkovskaya. She paid with her life to bring the sad, sorry, deeply disturbing story of present day Russia to us. The least we can do is read her book and make sure it is read by thousands of other people both in Russia and around the world. Nobody should be supporting the current Russian government, especially not the President of the United States!
is really like under Putin. There is massive corruption, repression, all kinds of injustices, no free press and a complete lack of concern for ordinary Russian people! There is no real democracy but a faux democracy where, for example, governors are chosen by Putin rather than elected by the people.
People brave enough to speak out about the injustices there are attacked, imprisoned, or in the author’s case, killed for writing about life in Russia today. Government-sanctioned criminals get away with murder of innocent people as the courts just do whatever they are told. Newspapers and TV stations are shut down and many journalists killed for reporting anything critical of the government.
The country is a police state run by a dictator. The Russian people deserve true freedoms such as the right to vote for their chosen leaders rather than being told who to vote for in local, regional and federal elections.
The truth about Russia today is becoming public knowledge thanks to author Anna Politkovskaya. She paid with her life to bring the sad, sorry, deeply disturbing story of present day Russia to us. The least we can do is read her book and make sure it is read by thousands of other people both in Russia and around the world. Nobody should be supporting the current Russian government, especially not the President of the United States!
August 20, 2018
A detailed look at the thuggery that takes place on a daily basis in Russia. Written in diary format, it is a tallying of the devastation of families, abductions, murders, corruption, and political indifference. Anna Politkovskaya must have been made of steel to look into the eyes of madmen and call their bluff. She was killed in a contract killing in 2006. Many people had encouraged her to flee Russia but she refused. This book is one hard hitting horror after another. It is very similar to watching an accident....you want to look away yet you want to bear witness...
October 4, 2012
Amazing. She did not pull any punches, she was so brave. This is an eye-opening account of Putin's Russia, of the heinous crimes committed under his rule, the horrors inflicted upon the Russian people themselves and, the pervasiveness of corruption & fear that keeps Putin in power.
I am keen to try to read Anna's other books on Russia, though I imagine they will also be hard going. You seriously can't believe what people have turned a blind eye to, until you read this yourself.
I am keen to try to read Anna's other books on Russia, though I imagine they will also be hard going. You seriously can't believe what people have turned a blind eye to, until you read this yourself.
May 16, 2013
You can tell that the book is written by a journalist, and what a journalist she was! Reading this book I can only conclude that unlike many other journalists she understood and valued the importance of really good journalism. In a state where power is being used against the own population she dared to question and criticize an elite that most people don't dare to stand up againt. This is the moost needed and important kind of journalism for sure. All I wonder is "how did she dare?"
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