The Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced on Friday, October 30, that it will cease all operations effective November 9. Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov stated in a video address that the publication was forced to close due to pressure from Russian government authorities and security services. The announcement follows the eviction of the staff from their Moscow newsroom and the disabling of the paper's donation system.
Novaya Gazeta was founded in 1993 with funds from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's Nobel Peace Prize award. It became an outlet for investigative reporting on corruption and human rights; six of its journalists, including Anna Politkovskaya, were killed in connection with their work. In 2021, its long-time editor Dmitry Muratov was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for defending freedom of expression.
The paper had already suspended its print edition in 2022 following warnings from the state media regulator regarding laws against "false information." A court revoked its media license in September 2022. Recently, authorities designated the paper a "foreign agent," and editor Oleg Roldugin was placed under house arrest on charges of misusing personal data, a crime carrying a potential 10-year prison sentence.
The Kremlin has previously stated that censorship is necessary during what it describes as an existential struggle with the West over Ukraine. The war blogger Rybar reposted a diatribe that characterized the newspaper's work as promoting an anti-Russian narrative. Sokolov reported that the closure leaves the staff without means of subsistence and under the threat of repression.
The closure affects the last major independent newspaper operating within Russia, as other outlets like Ekho Moskvy and TV Rain have already been shut down or moved abroad. For Russian citizens, this represents the loss of an internal source of investigative reporting that previously covered corruption and political issues. The impact includes the termination of its Moscow-based staff, who will no longer have access to their physical workspace on Potapovsky Lane or their digital infrastructure after November 9.
A person living in Russia will notice the absence of Novaya Gazeta's online content and print presence by mid-November. They will no longer be able to donate to the outlet, as the payment systems were disabled leading up to the announcement. Additionally, the Anna Politkovskaya Museum, which was housed in her former office, will also be closed. The outlet's journalists noted that under "special military operation" censorship laws, they were already prohibited from reporting on critical events.
While a sister outlet, Novaya Gazeta Europe, continues to operate from Latvia, it has been designated an "undesirable organization" by Moscow, making it effectively banned and inaccessible to the general public in Russia. The next steps for the editorial team involve a final shutdown of servers on November 9, with the newspaper stating it will provide more details regarding its future in the coming days. Additionally, editor Oleg Roldugin is currently awaiting trial under house arrest.