Ivan Zhilin, journalist of Novaya Gazeta, puts poster with sign ‘Novaya Gazeta lived here’ to cover the outlet’s plaque on the office as the newspaper shuts down, citing what it describes as a campaign by authorities
The newspaper, which has faced mounting restrictions since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, said authorities had forced its editorial team to cease operations. In a statement published on October 30, the newspaper said Russian authorities and security services had “forced our editorial team to cease operations. Founded in 1993, Novaya Gazeta earned a reputation for investigative journalism, particularly its reporting on human rights violations and corruption in Russia. Politkovskaya was shot dead in her apartment building in 2006, during Vladimir Putin’s first term as president. The crackdown intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, forcing several independent media organisations to close or move their operations abroad. Longtime editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, who shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, also faced intimidation. In 2022, an attacker poured red paint over him on a train, causing severe irritation in his eyes. Some of the newspaper’s journalists left Russia in 2022 and established a separate publication, Novaya Gazeta Europe.
Six of its journalists have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaya, who reported on atrocities during the second Chechen War.
“Human rights and freedoms have been abolished in this country, and defending them is now treated as a crime,” the newspaper said, “Elections and elected governing bodies have been effectively dismantled, civil society institutions have been wiped out, freedom of conscience and human dignity have been trampled underfoot. Tatiana Britskaya, the editor of Novaya Gazeta’s investigations desk, said she had expected the newspaper to shut down almost every day over the past four-and-a-half years. Authorities also designated it a “foreign agent”, a label that carries strong negative connotations and exposes those named to additional government scrutiny. Muratov stepped down as editor in 2023 after being designated a “foreign agent”.
The photographs had hung in the newsroom where reporters and editors once planned their investigations. As staff gathered outside the building, a new sign was placed above the newspaper’s former nameplate. It read, “Here lived Novaya Gazeta. The newspaper faced increasing government pressure as the Kremlin tightened its grip on critics. Novaya Gazeta was fined over allegations that it had discredited Russia’s armed forces. Its online platforms were blocked, its printing house was seized, its media registration was revoked and its reader donation system was shut down. The latest order to vacate its Moscow office marked another blow to the publication. The outlet continues to criticise the Kremlin and its military campaign in Ukraine. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Russia’s last major independent newspaper critical of the Kremlin, Novaya Gazeta, shut down its Moscow office on Monday after three decades, citing sustained pressure from government officials and security agencies. On Monday, journalists cleared the Moscow office, slowly taking down portraits of six colleagues who were killed for their work.
“It is an incredibly difficult decision, because this is more than a workplace, more than an office — this is our home, and we’re losing it,” she said. Sergei Sokolov, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, expressed hope that it would eventually return. “We will live, and I am sure that this country, caught in such a terrible era, will eventually stir. As soon as those first signs appear, Novaya Gazeta will return, to our readers and to our colleagues.”