Anastasia Baburova was a journalist, anarchist, and antifascist, from Sevastopol in Crimea. She was murdered in Moscow in 2009, alongside fellow antifascist, Stanislav Markelov. She was 25 years old.

Anastasia, known as Nastya by her friends, was a freelance journalist for Novaya Gazeta, known for its investigations into corruption and authoritarianism. Nastya was the third Novaya Gazeta journalist to be murdered, after Yuri Shchekochikhin and Anna Politkovskaya.

She was an active antifascist, involved in street actions against the growing neo-Nazi movement across Moscow, during a time where antifascists were constantly outnumbered and openly attacked, whilst Nazi’s were supported by the state.

As well as her antifascist activism, Anastasia was involved in many of the same environmental protest movements as Dmitry Petrov.

In 2008, Anastasia published her investigations into Russian neo-Nazi groups, in Novaya Gazeta.

Both her work and her activism placed her at risk of attack by fascists, and the increasingly authoritarian state. A state that had already proven its willingness to murder journalists, and would go on to murder other antifascists in collaboration with neo-Nazis.

In the months leading up to her death, Nastya became increasingly aware of the danger she was in, taking up martial arts for self-defense, and talking to friends about her situation. She was clearly fully aware that she was likely to be attacked, or even killed. Days before her death she cryptically emailed her parents asking them to “love me, please.“

In late 2008 Nastya had resigned from Novaya Gazeta, in protest at what she believed was an increasingly nationalist turn at the paper. She devoted the remaining days of her life to anarchist and antifascist activism, including contributing to Avtonom.

On the 18th of January 2009, Anastasia attended an Avtonom event. The following day, she was murdered.

She was leaving a press conference with Stanislav Markelov, on their way to the nearest metro stop. Before they made it there, a man appeared with a silenced pistol and fired three shots into Markelov. CCTV footage shows Nastya then moving towards the gunman before she herself is shot. She died in hospital later that night. Two of the shining lights of the antifascist movement in Russia had been extinguished at once.

At the memorial to the pair, police marched in and broke up the event, attacking and arresting the attendees.

The subsequent state investigations found that Nikita Tikhonov, a member of BORN, a Russian neo-Nazi organisation, was responsible for the murders, aided by his girlfriend, Eugenia Khassis. It is suspected that BORN was, at least, used and influenced by the Russian state.

It is very likely that Markelov and Baburova were murdered by the Russian state, and that Tikhonov and Khassis may or may not have been the actual murderers. Khassis, who performed Nazi salutes at her sentencing, has already been released from prison.

A documentary was made about Nastya’s life and death by director Valery Balayan, called Love me, please. The video clips featured in this article are all from this incredible work, which serves as a terrifying warning of what could be in store for the antifascist movement in western Europe – with authoritarian far-right parties on the cusp of gaining power everywhere.