The Newshound

'We have been killed': Russia's last independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta will close on November 9 under Kremlin pressure

Novaya Gazeta's masthead, whose editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said Russian security services had forced the team to close, with journalist Oleg Roldugin arrested in April and remaining under house arrest.
Novaya Gazeta's masthead, whose editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said Russian security services had forced the team to close, with journalist Oleg Roldugin arrested in April and remaining under house arrest.

Putin's Kremlin evicted the paper from its Moscow headquarters on Potapovsky Lane after 33 years and simultaneously dismantled its reader-donation system, leaving staff without money or a workplace. Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said Russia's information space has "disappeared" and that Russians have no way to discover even what is happening on neighbouring streets.

Novaya Gazeta was established in 1993 with Nobel Peace Prize money given by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev; co-founder Dmitry Muratov received the same prize in 2021 for his defence of press freedom.

Six of the paper's journalists died violently over the years, including Anna Politkovskaya, murdered by gunshot in 2006; the man convicted of killing her was pardoned in 2023 after joining Putin's Ukraine war.

The last edition will be published on November 9, after which staff will shut down the paper's servers and close the Anna Politkovskaya museum housed in her former office.

MoreBBC NewsProminent Russian newspaper shuts down under pressure from authoritiesThe IndependentRussia's top independent newspaper shuts down, blaming pressure from authoritiesReutersRussian independent paper Novaya Gazeta finally forced to close its doorsCBS NewsNovaya Gazeta, Russia's last independent newspaper, "no longer exists," as Putin erases the free pressPolitico'We were killed': Russian independent outlet Novaya Gazeta shuts downIrish Times‘We have been killed’: Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta closesNYT WorldNovaya Gazeta, Fiercely Independent Russian News Outlet, Says It Will Shut DownUPIOne of Russia's last independent newspapers shuts down under pressureIrish IndependentPutin shuts down Russia’s last independent newspaper
Read today's full feed at The Newshound →