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.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.”“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.”On Monday, journalists cleared the Moscow office, slowly taking down portraits of six colleagues who were killed for their work. 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.”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.“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.”
Crackdown on independent media
Founded in 1993, Novaya Gazeta earned a reputation for investigative journalism, particularly its reporting on human rights violations and corruption in Russia. Six of its journalists have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaya, who reported on atrocities during the second Chechen War.Politkovskaya was shot dead in her apartment building in 2006, during Vladimir Putin’s first term as president.The newspaper faced increasing government pressure as the Kremlin tightened its grip on critics. The crackdown intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, forcing several independent media organisations to close or move their operations abroad.Novaya Gazeta was fined over allegations that it had discredited Russia’s armed forces. Authorities also designated it a “foreign agent”, a label that carries strong negative connotations and exposes those named to additional government scrutiny.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.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. Muratov stepped down as editor in 2023 after being designated a “foreign agent”.Some of the newspaper’s journalists left Russia in 2022 and established a separate publication, Novaya Gazeta Europe. The outlet continues to criticise the Kremlin and its military campaign in Ukraine.
