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Russian Newspaper Novaya Gazeta Shuts Down Under Kremlin Pressure
Confirmed
In Short: Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has announced it will shut down, citing relentless pressure from the Kremlin.
Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has announced it will shut down, citing relentless pressure from the Kremlin. Editor-in-Chief Sergei Sokolov said in a 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.”
Founded in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Novaya Gazeta was one of Russia's most reputable and renowned organizations, known for its fearless investigative reporting on corruption, human rights violations, and abuse of power by officials and bureaucrats.
The paper’s then editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his efforts to safeguard freedom of expression at the helm of the paper. Muratov dedicated his prize to six colleagues who were killed for fulfilling their professional and civic duty, including Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in 2006.
Novaya Gazeta was branded a 'foreign agent' and charged with 'unlawful access to computerized information,' leading to the arrest of editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov and former editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov’s deputy, Oleg Roldugin. Sokolov pleaded not guilty and is under house arrest pending trial.
The paper said it received an eviction order and that the system for receiving donations from readers was disabled, leaving no way to fund the publication. Sokolov said, “The Russian authorities – the Russian special services – have forced the editorial team to end its work.”
International media rights groups have condemned Russia’s years of targeting Novaya Gazeta. Reporters Without Borders called on Moscow to “put an end to the judicial harassment” of its journalists.
Sokolov added, “The murder of Novaya Gazeta is yet another piece of evidence. All these years we wrote precisely about this, for as long as we could. Thank you to everyone who listened to us.”
The paper’s closure marks a new low in Moscow’s campaign against dissenting voices that gained speed after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. Russia has introduced near-Soviet levels of censorship since sending troops to Ukraine, pushing the vast majority of independent journalists into exile.
Sokolov said, “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.” He also noted, “Human rights and freedoms have been abolished, and their defense has been equated with a crime.”
What this adds
The closure of Novaya Gazeta highlights the severe restrictions on independent journalism in Russia, with the paper facing multiple legal and financial challenges.
What's confirmed
- "For nearly five years of war, we managed to operate while completely surrounded by intelligence services. But now, that's it. We've ended up in a kill zone," Sokolov said on Friday.
- The closure of Novaya Gazeta -- one of the last outlets to openly criticise Russia's offensive -- marks a new low in Moscow's campaign against dissenting voices that gained speed after the Kremlin sent troops into its neighbour in 2022.
- Charged with "unlawful access to computerised information", he pleaded not guilty, according to state media, and is under house arrest pending trial.
- It was also branded a "foreign agent" -- a label reminiscent of Soviet-era repression used to stifle dissent.
- Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has announced it will shut down, citing pressure from the authorities.
- The paper’s then editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression” at the helm of the paper.
- "The courts have been destroyed along with the law. Having convictions is now state treason."
- A former Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, dedicated his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize to six colleagues who were killed because of their work — including Anna Politkovskaya, who spent years investigating allegations of abuses by the Russian military in Chechnya and was found dead in her apartment block on President Vladimir Putin 's birthday in October 2006.
- "Novaya Gazeta is ceasing to exist," Editor-in-Chief Sergei Sokolov said in a statement published on YouTube.
- Read more Russia detains independent outlet Novaya Gazeta editor Sergei Sokolov Novaya Gazeta, historically a bastion of Russian independent journalism, is classed as a "foreign agent" by Russian authorities – a label used to stifle dissent.
- Russia has intensified its crackdown on independent news outlets since its offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.
- In brief: Russia’s independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced it was shutting down, blaming years of state pressure and repression over its critical reporting on the Kremlin and its war against Ukraine.
What's still developing
- The newsroom says it has entered a “death zone” where it can no longer report freely on the war and Russian society.
- Muratov told Novaya Gazeta Europe, "We didn’t die, they killed us — along with the Constitution," and he cited Article 29 of the constitution, "Censorship is prohibited," as the outlet described the decision to close the paper over the risk of being designated an "extremist organisation."
- The Moscow Times said police raided the apartment of editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov before taking him in for questioning, and it quoted a newspaper employee saying, "They already have one of us hostage — Oleg Roldugin."