MOSCOW: A Russian investigative journalist known for her critical coverage of the war in Chechnya, Anna Politkovskaya, was found murdered in Moscow on Saturday, Russian news agencies said.
Politkovskaya was well known for exposing rights abuses by Russian troops in Chechnya, where she won the respect of many Chechens.
She acted as a negotiator with the Chechen rebels who laid siege to a Moscow theatre in 2002.
She was unable to report on the Beslan school siege two years later, when Chechen rebels took hundreds of children hostage.
She instead was taken to hospital with food poisoning after drinking a cup of tea on the plane.
Her war reporting often meant she was under scrutiny by Russian politicians and, sometimes, the security services.
Interfax news agency quoted police sources as saying her body was discovered in a lift by a neighbour at 5.10 pm.
Police officers found a pistol and four rounds abandoned in the lift, it reported.
Politkovskaya, who worked for Novaya Gazeta -- a newspaper known for its opposition to the Kremlin, acted as a negotiator with the Chechen rebels who laid siege to a Moscow theatre in 2002.
