“Definite Results” Achieved in Politkovskaya Murder Probe

President Vladimir Putin said investigators have achieved “definite results” in their probe of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s killing, the Associated Press news agency reports.

In an interview with Mexican publisher Mario Vazquez Rana that was posted on the Kremlin Web site, the Russian leader said “certain political shadowy figures” were trying to spin Politkovskaya’s killing for certain purposes.

“It’s sometimes hard for me to grasp the great, unfounded proclamations that Russian authorities’ participated in the murder, that special forces are trying move the inquest down a false path. I am convinced that is not the case,” Putin said.

“The most professional forces from Russian law enforcement structures have been called to the investigation, there are already definite results. And I would like to note that as far as I know, relatives of the deceased … are satisfied with the steps taken in the investigative work,” he said.

Politkovskaya, who exposed killings, torture and other abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was gunned down in an apparent contract killing in her apartment building in Moscow on Oct. 7.

The gunmen have not been found and her murder set off a chorus of protest from foreign governments and international organizations.

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