Prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was found shot dead on Saturday 7th October 2006 in a lift at her block of flats in the Russian capital, Moscow. Russia's prosecutor-general has personally taken charge the investigation - focusing on possible links to her investigative reporting. Ms Politkovskaya was due to publish an article on torture and kidnappings in Chechnya on Monday, her Novaya Gazeta has revealed.

Politkovskaya won international recognition for her reporting work on the conflict in Chechnya in which she sought to expose human rights abuses. Detained on occasion by the...