9.
Journalist Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated by guns for hire in the lobby of her apartment building on October 7th, 2006 – Putin’s birthday. Politkovskaya exposed corruption in the Russian army and its conduct in Chechnya and was a well-known critic of Putin’s policies. Five men were imprisoned for her murder, but it is unclear who ordered her murder. Rumors persist that her death was a “birthday gift” for Putin.
