Robert Amsterdam

Interesting news coming out of Russia today on the 2006 murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya - the authorities have announced that they have identified the trigger man and are in the process of hunting him down for arrest ... the only thing the authorities won't disclose is this person's name.

Given the past failures (Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika once boasted the arrest of a suspect who was actually in prison at the time of the crime) and disappointing lack of progress in the investigation, Politkovskaya's former co-workers are dismissive of the prosecution's announcement. Dmitry Muratov of Novaya Gazeta told Reuters that the investigators are recycling old news - they already knew the name of the hitman last year, but they are seeking to keep FSB Colonel Pavel Ryaguzov, who is alleged to have provided Politkovskaya's address to the killers, in detention.

The likely motivation for this optimistic announcement? It could be a response to the renewed spate of journalist killings in Dagestan, which yesterday the OSCE issued a statement demanding a vigorous probe of the murders.

Interestingly, many of the wire stories covering the Politkovskaya announcement saw fit to mention Dmitry Medvedev's promises to eliminate "legal nihilism."