Novaya Gazeta, Russia's prominent independent newspaper, announced on Friday that it was closing and ending its work after what it described as sustained pressure from Russian authorities.1,3,4
The paper said it was being evicted from the offices it had occupied for 30 years and was unable to receive financial support from readers, and current editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said the paper was “ending its existence.” The closure removes one of the last outlets inside Russia that openly criticised the Kremlin and its war in Ukraine.1,3,4
Staff at the editorial offices were packing up with cardboard boxes and plastic bags. Sokolov said in a video statement, “On November 9 we will turn off the lights in our home, where we have lived for 30 years. We will shut down the servers and leave.” Muratov said banks were refusing to accept donations from readers, leaving it unable to earn money.1,4
In a statement on its website announcing the closure, the paper said, “They've killed us,” and added, “The newspaper is no more. The Russian authorities and Russian special services have forced the paper to stop its work.” Sokolov said in a separate video statement that “the Russian authorities – the Russian special services – have forced the editorial team to end its work.”1,3,4
Co-founder Dmitry Muratov said. “There are different ways to commit murder,” Muratov said. “They chose to strangle us.” He added, “First, they blocked our websites and banned the paper edition. Then they revoked our media licence. One by one we were declared ‘foreign agents’, and our journalists were attacked.” He continued, “Now we can't earn any more money. The banks are refusing to accept donations from our readers. In our country there are political repressions going on. Those have reached us.”1
Muratov said the closure was “part of a giant military campaign being waged by the Russian Federation.” He added, “We are fierce opponents of war in all its forms. And we are a part that needed to be destroyed.” Sokolov said the paper had for nearly five years of war “managed to operate while completely surrounded by intelligence services. But now, that's it. We've ended up in a kill zone.” He added, “This isn't just our own private story– it's the story of a country and a society that are being finished off in exactly the same way.”3
Pressure on the paper increased after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. The paper's media licence was revoked, its websites were blocked and its print edition was banned. The reports said journalists and editors were questioned, detained and had their homes searched, and the paper cut back production inside the country while its online edition remained available despite court orders.1,3,4
Founded in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Novaya Gazeta was published several times a week and built a reputation for investigative reporting on corruption, human rights abuses and abuse of power by officials. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, donated some of his Nobel Peace Prize money to help establish the paper. Muratov was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for efforts “to safeguard freedom of expression, a precondition for democracy and lasting peace,” and he stepped down as editor-in-chief two years later after being designated a “foreign agent” in 2023.1,3,4
The paper said six colleagues were killed for “fulfilling their professional and civic duty.” They included Anna Politkovskaya, who wrote extensively on the wars in Chechnya and spent years investigating allegations of abuses by Russia's military during its campaigns in Chechnya. She was shot dead in the stairwell of her apartment block 20 years ago this month, found dead on President Vladimir Putin's birthday in October 2006. Her office was preserved as a memorial, and most of its objects had been removed since the eviction order, leaving a desk and a portrait.1,3
In recent months, authorities searched Sokolov's home, and earlier this year one of the paper's journalists, Oleg Roldugin, was arrested. Sokolov said, “Human rights and freedoms have been abolished, and their defence has been equated with a crime,” and added, “Beliefs have become state treason.” The website statement used similar language, saying, “Human rights and freedoms have been eliminated in the country and their protection has been equated to a crime… The courts have been destroyed along with the law. Having personal convictions is now state treason.”1,3
Press advocates and the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee reacted to the announcement. Reporters Without Borders chief Thibaut Bruttin said, “Novaya Gazeta will remain THE symbol of free, pluralistic, independent, and rigorous journalism – a model for the entire profession around the world.” Amnesty International said the closure was a “devastating loss for everyone in Russia who turns to independent, investigative journalism to uncover the truth.” Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee president Jorgen Watne Frydnes called on Russian authorities to “end their repression of independent media” and said, “The closure is a grave blow to freedom of expression and the public's right to information.”3
