Investigators Know Who Killed Politkovskaya

Investigators know who killed reporter Anna Politkovskaya but have not determined who hired him, a senior investigator said.

“We haven’t charged the killer yet, but we know who he is,” said Petros Garibyan, head of the Investigative Committee’s inquiry into the murder, in an interview published Monday in Politkovskaya’s former newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. “But it’s another matter to trace the entire process: from the person who ordered the murder to the person who carried it out.”

He said he had “curious” leads about the suspected mastermind, without elaborating.

Izvestia reported Monday that those leads had taken investigators to Ukraine, where on Friday they questioned Nikolai Melnichenko, a former bodyguard of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma and a one-time associate of Boris Berezovsky. The nature of Melnichenko’s possible connection to the Oct. 7, 2006, murder was not disclosed, but he gave evidence that helped the investigation, Izvestia said, citing a source in Ukraine. Prosecutors have indicated that they suspect Kremlin foes abroad — such as Berezovsky — might have ordered the killing to blacken the Kremlin’s reputation.

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