Nina Litvinova, a prominent Russian human rights activist and dissident whose suicide was reported recently by Russian media, left a note blaming President Vladimir Putin for her death, according to her cousin.
The 80-year-old’s suicide was first reported on May 13. The following day, her cousin, journalist Maria Slonim, published what she said was an excerpt from Litvinova’s note on social media.
“Nobody — neither RIA nor Gazeta.Ru, which first reported it — will, of course, publish the note, because it lays out the reasons for her death far too plainly. So we decided to show the real reasons: Putin killed her!” Slonim wrote.
The excerpt speaks of Putin’s domestic repression of opponents and his ongoing war on Ukraine.
“I love all of you and think about you. But I must leave; living has become unbearable for me. Ever since Putin attacked Ukraine and has been killing innocent people, while here at home thousands are endlessly thrown into prison, suffering and dying there simply because, like me, they oppose the war and oppose killing,” it says.
“I can do nothing to help them. Yevgenia Berkovich, Svetlana Petriichuk, Karina Tsurkan, and thousands of others behind bars are suffering and dying,” it continues, naming people who are widely regarded as political prisoners. “I tried to help them, but my strength is gone, and day and night I suffer from helplessness. I am ashamed, but I gave up. Please forgive me.”
The Russian human rights organization Memorial had previously reported the activist’s death. It said Litvinova had been helping political prisoners since the 1960s, including her brother, Pavel Litvinov, who took part in a demonstration against the invasion of Czechoslovakia on Red Square in August 1968.
In 2022, Litvinova appeared briefly in a documentary by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, in which she was visiting jailed opposition activist Olga Bendas.
In recent years, Litvinova attended high-profile trials, including those of historian Yury Dmitriyev and Memorial co-founder Oleg Orlov.
She also helped many lesser-known political prisoners. As Memorial pointed out in its statement, she did so without seeking publicity.
