Politics1 min read

Russia's last major independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta shuts down after 33 years

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The editorial team announced the cessation of operations after authorities steadily dismantled the outlet's operational capabilities through platform blocks, asset seizures, and legal designations. Founded in 1993, the paper had weathered decades of severe hostility, including the targeted killings of six journalists such as Anna Politkovskaya. As employees packed up the office on Monday, they removed the portraits of those slain colleagues and left a memorial sign outside reading, “Here lived Novaya Gazeta.” While an offshoot operates abroad, current editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov remains hopeful that the home publication will one day revive.

Key points

  • The closure represents the total elimination of prominent, domestically based independent…: The closure represents the total elimination of prominent, domestically based independent print journalism critical of the Kremlin inside Russia.
  • Decades of investigative reporting into high-level state corruption and wartime atrocitie…: Decades of investigative reporting into high-level state corruption and wartime atrocities came at the cost of multiple journalists' lives.
  • Although the domestic headquarters has ceased operations, staff members continue publishi…: Although the domestic headquarters has ceased operations, staff members continue publishing abroad through Novaya Gazeta Europe with hopes of a future return.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

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…

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