Russia’s Leading Independent Newspaper Closes After 33 Years Amid Government Pressure

Russia’s prominent independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, has closed its Moscow office after 33 years of operation, blaming sustained pressure from government authorities and security agencies for forcing its editorial team to cease operations.

The newspaper shut its newsroom on Monday, November 9, following years of legal restrictions, censorship and financial difficulties that intensified after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In a statement published on October 30, the publication said Russian authorities and security services had made it impossible for its journalists to continue working.

“Human rights and freedoms have been abolished in this country, and defending them is now treated as a crime,” the newspaper said in its statement.

Founded in 1993, Novaya Gazeta became one of Russia’s most influential independent media organisations, gaining recognition for its investigative reporting on government corruption, human rights violations and political abuses.

The newspaper was co-founded with the support of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who used part of his Nobel Peace Prize money to help establish the publication.

Its longtime editor, Dmitry Muratov, shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Philippine journalist Maria Ressa in recognition of their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression.

However, the publication increasingly came under pressure following the Kremlin’s crackdown on independent media after the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian authorities designated Novaya Gazeta a “foreign agent”, a classification that subjects organisations and individuals to additional scrutiny and restrictions.

The newspaper was also fined over allegations of discrediting Russia’s armed forces, while authorities blocked its online platforms, seized its printing facilities, revoked its media registration and disrupted its reader donation system.

Its final closure followed an order requiring the editorial team to vacate its Moscow premises.

The newspaper has also paid a heavy price for its investigative journalism. Six of its journalists and contributors were killed over the years, including prominent investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building in October 2006 after reporting extensively on human rights abuses and the war in Chechnya.

On Monday, journalists held their final editorial meeting, removed portraits of their murdered colleagues from the newsroom and packed their belongings before leaving the office they had occupied for nearly three decades.

Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov expressed hope that the newspaper would eventually return, insisting that its closure did not mean the end of its journalists or their commitment to independent reporting.

Former editor Muratov also condemned the suppression of civil liberties and called for the release of political prisoners.

Reacting to the development, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected suggestions that Russia was witnessing the end of independent media, describing the closure as part of a normal process in which some publications disappear while others emerge.

Some members of the newspaper’s staff had already left Russia in 2022 and established Novaya Gazeta Europe, a separate publication operating from abroad that continues to report critically on the Kremlin and the war in Ukraine.

The closure of Novaya Gazeta marks another significant setback for independent journalism in Russia, where restrictions on media organisations and journalists have intensified in recent years.