Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta to close, citing pressure from ‘special services’
The newspaper said authorities and security services forced its newsroom to end operations after years of censorship, detentions and funding cuts.
- On Friday, Novaya Gazeta, Russia's oldest independent newspaper, announced it is ceasing operations after more than three decades. Editor-in-Chief Sergei Sokolov said Russian authorities forced the editorial team to end its work.
- The newspaper faced years of state pressure after the Justice Ministry designated it a "foreign agent" in September. Staff wrote in a farewell statement they operated within a "kill zone" for five years under constant surveillance.
- Authorities recently detained employees, including questioning Sokolov earlier this month and arresting colleague Oleg Roldugin on charges of "unlawful access to computerised information." The publication will vacate its Moscow office and shut down servers on November 9.
- This closure coincides with former Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Muratov, who won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his "efforts to safeguard freedom of expression," attending a memorial for murdered reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Six journalists have been killed over the years in what rights groups believe were retaliatory assassinations.
- Founded with support from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993, the outlet built a reputation for exposing corruption and human rights abuses. Its closure marks the culmination of a broader crackdown that pushed most independent journalists into exile since Russia's 2022 Ukraine invasion.
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The blocking of funds and judicial investigations force the daily newspaper to close. It is the last act of a repressive plan that in five years led to the closure of at least 30 newspapers. Niccolò Pianciola (Memorial Italy): "Novaja Gazeta represented a Russia capable of questioning the power and denouncing the corruption and violence of the State"
For more than thirty years, the journalists of the "Novaya" have been reporting on everything that moves their country. Corruption, poverty, war. Some of them paid for their work with life.
‘They killed us’: Russia’s last independent newspaper falls silent amid pressure from Kremlin
By Zahra Ullah, Anna Chernova, CNN Moscow (CNN) — Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s last independent news outlets, announced on Friday it would close down operations due to pressure from authorities. “Novaya Gazeta has been killed,” Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said in a video statement. “On November 9, we will turn off the lights in the
Russia: Closure of Novaya Gazeta is a devastating loss for embattled media freedom
Responding to the announcement that Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s last independent newspapers, will cease operations on 9 November, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director, said: “The closure of Novaya Gazeta is a devastating loss for everyone in Russia who turns to independent, investigative journalism to uncover the truth. This […]
Thirty-three years of investigations, battles and independent information end on November 9th. The Russian newspaper is forced to close after the eviction from the Moscow headquarters and the blocking of the donations of readers. It also closes the museum dedicated to Anna Politkovskaja. The article Russia, the curtain falls on Novaja Gazeta: "The newspaper no longer exists" comes from The Truth.
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