In Part 1 of a two-part study of the life and death of Anna Politkovskaya, we look at her work as a journalist covering the brutal Chechen wars in Russia in the 1990s and early 2000s. She exposed war crimes and gave voice to the many civilian casualties of the conflict between separatists and the federal government. She also sought to expose corruption and criminality elsewhere in Russia, in the process making powerful enemies. Her assassination in 2006 led some people to point the finger of blame at President Vladimir Putin; but as we shall hear, Ms Politkovskaya kicked several hornets' nests in the dangerous world of Russian politics and big business.

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Assassinations Podcast was created by Niall Cooper, who also researches and writes the show. Lindsey Morse is our editor and producer. Our theme music was created by Graeme Ronald. If you’d like to hear more from Graeme, check out his band Remember Remember. You’ll find them on iTunes.