Murder and Ramzan Kadyrov

The Washington Post's Philip Pan puts today's murder of Russian activist Natalya Estemirova within the context of a string of slayings of the foes of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Estemirova was among many who accused Kadyrov of running an exceptionally brutal and murderous regime.

For hours, the blogosphere has been replete with reports on Estemirova's kidnapping and murder, so all we do here is attempt some context. Just three days ago, O&G used the occasion of the five-year anniversary of another Russian slaying -- that of American reporter Paul Klebnikov -- to note the multiple forces in Russia that conspire to keep killers safe from justice. President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a priority investigation into Estemirova's killing, but until now the Kremlin has been among the forces protecting murderers. Simply put, no major slaying that I can think of has been solved in Russia since the Soviet breakup.

The highest-profile critic of Kadyrov to be murdered was reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was slain in 2006. Here are a few victims of just the last year: Umar Israilov, a former Kadyrov bodyguard, was shot down in Vienna on January 13. Six days later, Stanley Markelov, a lawyer who represented the family of a woman murdered in Chechnya, was shot dead in Moscow. Two months later, Sulim Yamadayev, a former commander in Chechnya, was killed in Dubai. Yamadayev's brother, Ruslan, a political rival of Kadyrov's, had been shot dead in Moscow the previous September.

That's a good start for any genuine investigation.