Politkovskaya, a 48-year-old mother of two, was murdered on Saturday, Mr Putin's 54th birthday. Perhaps the assassin had a grim sense of occasion. (...)
Politkovskaya's relationship with the government was never easy as she openly called for Mr Putin to be replaced and begged him to remove Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed Chechen prime minister she accused of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering civilians. (...)
Her murder will reinforce fears about the dangers that Russian journalists face. It is the most high-profile killing of a journalist since the US-born editor of Forbes Russia, Paul Klebnikov, was gunned down in Moscow in 2004. That murder, like that of almost every journalist killed to order since 2000 when Mr Putin came to power, remains unsolved. (...)
Silenced opponents of the Kremlin
Dmitry Kholodov
Following an anonymous phone call to his office in October 1994, the journalist travelled to a Moscow train station to collect what he thought was a briefcase of documents that would help him in his exposés of corruption within Russia's military. The briefcase exploded, killing him and wounding a colleague. Six military officers were acquitted of his murder in 2004.
Larissa Yudina
Her battered body was found in June 1998, a day after she failed to return from a meeting with an anonymous caller. She had been stabbed and had a fractured skull. As editor of the only non-government newspaper in Russia's autonomous Kalmykia region, she had made powerful enemies. Members of the Kalmykia president's inner circle were later implicated in her death.
Galina Starovoitova
A human rights campaigner and leading liberal politician, she was gunned down by hired killers in November 1998 as she left her apartment in St Petersburg. Supporters claimed the killing could only have been political because she had few business interests. Although two hitmen were eventually jailed for her murder, no one has been prosecuted for ordering the killing.
Sergei Yushenkov
As co-chairman of Russia's leading opposition party, Liberal Russia, Yushenkov was a fierce critic of the Kremlin. He had lambasted what he saw as increasingly anti-democratic legislation and was extremely critical of the Russian government's wars in Chechnya. He was killed in April 2003 by a shot to the chest outside his Moscow apartment. Four men were convicted of his murder.
Paul Klebnikov
The US-born editor of Russia's Forbes magazine was shot outside his office in July 2004, just three months after taking up the position. No one has been convicted of his murder and, even as he lay dying, he was unable to think of anyone who might order such an attack. He had written extensively on crime and corruption following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Andrei Kozlov
The deputy chairman of Russia's Central Bank had made it his mission to clear up the corrupt banking system and was murdered last month for doing so. Two gunmen opened fire on his car as he left a football stadium. One week earlier he had called for a lifetime ban on bankers found guilty of tax crimes and fraud. He had also taken away licences from Russian banks he thought to be corrupt.
