"This murder has done more damage to Russia — and the current authorities of Russia and Chechnya, which she has been covering lately in her work — than Politkovskaya's articles."

-- Vladimir Putin, "President" of Russia, commenting for the first time on the assasination of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya

"Putin said an outrageous thing today about Anna. What he said today [that Politkovskaya was an enemy of Russia] is so outrageous that it is unworthy of a man, and it is unworthy of the president of Russia."

-- Sergei Sokolov, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta, Politkovskaya's employer, after Putin's remarks were broadcast

Putin then tried to blame the killing on his political enemies trying to make him look bad. He stated: "We have information, and it is reliable, that many people hiding from Russian justice have long been nurturing the idea of sacrificing somebody in order to create a wave of anti-Russia feeling in the world." Oddly, though, Putin gave no warning before the killing that he had this "reliable information." Isn't that strange?

La Russophobe dares to wonder how much longer Mr. Sokolov has to live.