Anastasia Baburova

Ukrainian-born Russian journalist (1983–2009)

Анастасия Бабурова

Born30 November 1983

Sevastopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

Died19 January 2009(2009-01-19) (aged 25)

Moscow, Russia

Cause of deathAssassinationEducationMoscow State UniversityOccupationJournalist/studentEmployerNovaya GazetaSpouseAlexander Frolov (m. 2003; divorced 2007)

Anastasia Baburova (Russian: Анастасия Эдуардовна Бабурова, romanized: Anastasia Eduardovna Baburova; Ukrainian: Анастасiя Едуардівна Бабурова, romanized: Anatasiia Eduardivna Baburova; 30 November 1983 – 19 January 2009) was a journalist for Novaya Gazeta and a student of journalism at Moscow State University. She was born in Sevastopol, Ukrainian SSR.^[1]^[2]^[3] A member of Autonomous Action,^[4] she investigated the activities of neo-Nazi groups.^[5]^[6] She was shot and killed together with human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Personal life

Baburova was the only child of Eduard Fyodorovich Baburov and Larisa Ivanovna Baburova, who were both professors at the Sevastopol National Technical University.^[10]^[11] Besides Russian and Ukrainian, which she considered her native languages, she also spoke English and French.^[12]

In 2000, she began studying at the Management-Faculty of the Black Sea branch of the Moscow State University.^[12] She went to Moscow in 2001 and became a student in international law at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 2003, she married a fellow journalism student, Alexander Frolov, whom she met in 2000 during her studies in Sevastopol. In 2004, Baburova became a journalist student at the Moscow State University.^[13]^[14] Along with her studies, she worked as a freelance journalist for Vechernyaya Moskva, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Izvestia. In the summer of 2007, Baburova and Frolov divorced.^[15]

Political and journalistic activity

Baburova's political activity may be traced back to her having witnessed an attack by neo-Nazis on a foreigner, after which she wrote in her diary, "It is difficult to look in the eyes of a Korean student, who has only just been struck in the temple by two juvenile thugs... they waved 'Sieg Heil' towards the tram and ran off."

Baburova was active in the anarchist environmentalist movement. She participated in the activities of ecological camps, in social fora, including the Fifth European Social Forum in Malmö 2008, organised the 'Anti-capitalism 2008' festival, demonstrated widely, and was involved in anti-fascist activities more generally.

In July 2008, Baburova participated in a demonstration against the felling of the Khimki Forest. For her involvement in another protest against the eviction of former pork factory workers from the Moscow factory, 'Smena' and impoverished CIS immigrants she would spend a night in prison. The day before her murder, Anastasia appeared at the anarcho-communist unity event 'Autonomous Action'. Earlier she had written an article on behalf of the journal 'Avtonom'.

Throughout 2008, Anastasia Baburova worked on the editorial team of the Russian newspaper, Izvestia, and had had dozens of articles published by both Izvestia and Financial News, particularly on finance. Beginning in October 2008, she investigated (as a freelance-journalist) Russian neo-Nazi groups for Novaya Gazeta.^[16]^[17] In December 2008, she resigned from this post over the political course of the newspaper, which, according to the British weekly newspaper The Economist, may be characterised by "nationalism, spinelessness and cynicism".

Death and investigation

At first it was reported that Baburova had been wounded in an attempt to detain Markelov's killer, but later Russian law enforcement authorities declared that Baburova was shot in the back of her head. Baburova died a few hours after the attack at a Moscow hospital.^[18] Baburova became the fourth Novaya Gazeta journalist to be killed since 2000.

Then President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko sent her parents a condolence telegram on 23 January 2009.^[3] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave his condolences 6 days later.^[19]^[20]^[21] On 26 January 2009, Baburova was buried in the central city cemetery of her home town of Sevastopol.^[2]

According to Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, the details of the murder indicate involvement of Russian state security services.^[5] In November 2009, Russian authorities declared the end of the criminal investigation. The murder suspects were 29-year-old Nikita Tikhonov and his girlfriend, 24-year-old Eugenia Khasis, members of a radical neo-Nazi nationalistic group. According to investigators, Tikhonov was the one who committed the murder, while Khasis reported to him, by cell phone, the movements of Markelov and Baburova right before the assault. The motive of the murder was revenge for Markelov's prior work as a lawyer in the interests of anti-Russian activists. The murder suspects were arrested, and were reported to have confessed. In May 2011, Tikhonov was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Khasis was sentenced to 18 years in prison.^[22]

References and footnotes

^ "С Родины на Родину: Севастополь простился с Анастасией Бабуровой" [From Homeland to Homeland: Sevastopol bids farewell to Anastasia Baburova]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Sevastopol pays final respects to journalist gunned down in Moscow". UNIAN. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Виктор Ющенко выразил соболезнования в связи с гибелью журналистки Анастасии Бабуровой" [Viktor Yushchenko expresses condolences over death of journalist Anastasia Baburova]. Справочная Секретариата Президента Украины (in Russian). 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
^ "Anastasia "Skat" Baburova, 30 November 1983-19 January 2009". Autonomous Action. 19 January 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
^ ^a ^b Felgenhauer, Pavel (22 January 2009). "The Russian Security Services—The Prime Murder Suspect". Eurasia Daily Monitor. Vol. 6, no. 14. The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
^ "Obituary: Anastasia Baburova". The Economist. 5 February 2009. p. 79. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
^ Schwirtz, Michael (19 January 2009). "Leading Russian Rights Lawyer Is Shot to Death in Moscow, Along With Journalist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
^ "Murder of lawyer shocks Russians". BBC News. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
^ "В центре Москве убиты адвокат Станислав Маркелов и журналист "Новой газеты" Анастасия Бабурова" [Lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova killed in downtown Moscow]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 19 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
^ Nikita Kasjanenko (27 January 2009). "Журналисты Крыма требуют от власти России наказать виновных в смерти Анастасии Бабуровой" [Crimean journalists demand that Russian authorities punish those responsible for Anastasia Baburova's death]. Den (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
^ Леонтиевский, Олег (27 January 2009). "У Насти Бабуровой было развито чувство справедливости" [Nastya Baburova had a well-developed sense of justice]. UNIAN (in Russian). Retrieved 5 March 2009.
^ ^a ^b Kasyanenko, Nikita (13 February 2009). "Я прошу вас, любите меня, пожалуйста!" [I beg you, love me, please!]. Den (in Russian). Vol. 24. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
^ "Список студентов, зачисленных на первый курс факультета журналистики МГУ в 2004 году" [List of students enrolled in the first year of the MSU Faculty of Journalism in 2004]. MSU Faculty of Journalism (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
^ Донских, Илья (21 January 2009). "Такой она была" [That's the way she was]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
^ Боброва, Ирина; Петухова, Екатерина (21 January 2009). "Настя Бабурова: "Товарищи родители, любите меня, пожалуйста!" [Nastya Baburova: "Comrade parents, please love me!]. Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
^ "Rechtsanwalt und Journalistin ermordet" [Lawyer and journalist murdered]. Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). DPA. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
^ Milashina, Elena (21 January 2009). "We are not afraid". Novaya Gazeta. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
^ "В Севастополе похоронили Анастасию Бабурову" [Anastasia Baburova buried in Sevastopol]. Peoples.ru (in Russian). 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
^ Kim, Lucian (29 January 2009). "Medvedev Expresses Condolences Over Journalist Slain in Moscow". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
^ "Дмитрий Медведев сказал, почему не выразил соболезнования в связи с убийством Маркелова и Бабуровой" [Dmitry Medvedev said why he did not express condolences in connection with the murder of Markelov and Baburova]. Mideast.ru (in Russian). 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
^ Belton, Catherine (30 January 2009). "Medvedev sympathy for murdered activists signals break from past". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
^ Mirovalev, Mansur (6 May 2011). "Nikita Tikhonov And Yevgenia Khasis, Russian Nationalists, Sentenced For Killing Human Rights Lawyer, Journalist". HuffPost World. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2020.