Nina Litvinova, a Russian human rights activist and granddaughter of former Soviet Foreign Affairs Commissar Maxim Litvinov, has died by suicide in Moscow, according to Russian media reports and statements from relatives.

State outlets reported that she left a note, parts of which were later published on Facebook by her cousin, journalist Masha Slonim. In the message, Litvinova linked her decision to Russia's war in Ukraine and the domestic crackdown on dissent. ?I love you all and think of you. But I must go, life is unbearable for me,? she wrote, adding that ever since ?Putin attacked Ukraine and kills innocent people,? she had been overwhelmed by despair over the war and the imprisonment of anti-war activists.

She also referred to several imprisoned figures, including Zhenya Berkovich, Svetlana Petrichuk, and Karina Tsurkan, saying she felt powerless to help them. ?I cannot help them in any way? I tried to help them, but my strength ran out,? the note said, according to the published excerpts.

Litvinova was born in 1945 and had worked for decades as a human rights advocate, including assistance to political prisoners and attendance at high-profile trials in Russia. She was also known for her long academic career at the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where she published scientific research.

Relatives and exile-linked human rights groups described her as part of a longstanding dissident tradition. She was the sister of Pavel Litvinov, who took part in a 1968 protest in Moscow against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Her cousin Slonim said the note made clear her motivation, writing that ?Putin killed her,? while emphasizing her lifelong commitment to defending political prisoners and opposing state repression.