Last Independent Russian Paper Shuts
Russia’s last independent newspaper closed its Moscow office on November 9 after more than 30 years, saying the authorities and security services forced it to stop.
Russia’s last independent newspaper closed its Moscow office on November 9 after more than 30 years, saying the authorities and security services forced it to stop.
As Novaya Gazeta staff left their Moscow office for the last time, taking down portraits of murdered colleagues, a sign reading “Here lived Novaya Gazeta” went up above the nameplate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any government role, calling the closure part of a routine churn in a competitive media market. The paper’s staff reject that explanation.
Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said the paper Novaya Gazeta is an idea, not pages or a website, and promised it would come back to readers as soon as the first signs of change appear.
In October, the paper was told to vacate its Potapovsky Lane office, banks stopped processing the reader donations it lived on, and police searched Sokolov’s home and questioned him.
In a statement, the paper said Russia’s authorities and security services had forced it to close. Co-founder Dmitry Muratov said the decision was made for them, to destroy the paper.
After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, its licence was revoked, websites blocked and printing house seized. Half its staff went into exile and launched Novaya Gazeta Europe.
Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa. In 2022, an attacker doused him with red paint on a train. He stepped down in 2023 after being named a foreign agent.
Founded in 1993 with Mikhail Gorbachev’s backing, the paper exposed corruption and rights abuses. Six of its journalists were killed, including Anna Politkovskaya, murdered in 2006.