Anna Politkovskaya spoke to a packed Sydney Theatre crowd on the second last day of Sydney Writers' Festival. "A beautiful city such as Sydney can offer many forms of entertainment on a Saturday evening," she said through her translator, Liudmila, "so thank you for choosing to come here and listen to my not-so-entertaining story."

At first, Politkovskaya spoke softly and slowly, however by the middle of her talk, she was all fired up. She delivered an angry account of today's Russia under President Vladimir Putin.

In today's Russia, corruption is the way to do business. Highly-trained but poorly-paid special forces officers make cheap assassins anyone can afford. The army trains its soldiers through unimaginable brutality that leads to more than one thousand deaths in the barracks each year. "Lieutenant colonel Vladimir Putin" - as Politkovskaya likes to call him - "can't help himself, he has the KGB genetic disorder."

Politkovskaya believes that Putin started a "second Chechen war" so he could have his own war on terror. In 2002, she spent eight hours inside a Moscow theatre where Chechen terrorists held more than 800 hostages. She still believes a peaceful resolution to the siege was possible if Putin had not ordered the Special Forces to knock everyone out using a toxic gas.

At the end of her talk, some in the audience asked questions. One man asked "Is it fair to say that people always get the government they deserve?" Politkovskaya replied, "I agree, but I want to believe in my people." Another asked if she feared for her life in Russia. "We don't think about such things, what's important is the cause we are fighting for."

A Russian woman in the audience stood up to ask a question but was told that time had run out. She continued regardless. "You have given us a very one-sided account of Russia, you should let me ask a question," she said.

I caught up with her later. "I was very disappointed to hear so much dirt put on Russia," said Tania Hartung, "especially as we from the Russian ethnic community are working very hard to create closer relations between Australia and Russia and build bridges."

"She should have presented a balanced view of what the situation is," said Natalie Lobastova who is a member of the Russian Ethnic Community Council of NSW.  "If she's fighting for a cause, she should fight it in Russia," says Lobastova.

Many Russians criticise Politkovskaya for playing into the hands of Russia's enemies. They say that many of those who call for democracy and human rights in Russia are only interested in weakening Russia.

I asked Politkovskaya what would happen if Russia is cornered and pressured not only by the West but also by some former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia.

"What will happen? Nothing! Russia will continue to sell energy supplies to China," said Politkovskaya.

"People are tired of all this rubbish that has been going around since the collapse of the Soviet Union," said Tania Hartung. "That's why a lot of older people in Russia are now pining for the old Soviet times."

Anna Politkovskaya spoke at Sydney Writers' Festival on Saturday 27 May 2006 to promote her book, Putin's Russia.