Russian war reporter shot dead in Moscow

Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an outspoken critic of war in rebel Chechnya, was shot dead yesterday at her apartment block in central Moscow.

Politkovskaya, a mother of two, was well-known for exposing rights abuses by Russian troops and remained critical of Moscow's campaign despite intense government pressure.

"The first thing that comes to mind is that Anna was killed for her professional activities. We don't see any other motive for this terrible crime," said Vitaly Yaroshevsky, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper where Politkovskaya worked.

Yaroshevsky told Reuters that sources in the police and Politkovskaya's own son had both confirmed her death.

"Chechnya has always been her main subject," he said.

Novaya Gazeta is known for being critical of the Kremlin.

Politkovskaya's war reporting often meant she was under scrutiny by Russian politicians and, sometimes, the security services. She had been arrested and complained of sometimes being threatened.

Interfax news agency quoted police sources as saying her body was discovered in a lift by a neighbour at 5.10 p.m. Police officers found a pistol and four rounds abandoned in the lift, it reported.

Police had cordoned off the scene outside her nine-storey Soviet-era apartment block.

Journalists rights groups condemned the killing.