Novaya Gazeta shuts down, citing years of Kremlin pressure

Novaya Gazeta, Russia's flagship independent newspaper, announced Friday it was closing after years of state repression targeting staff who reported critically on the Kremlin and its war against Ukraine.

Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said the paper had been "killed" by the Russian authorities and special services. "Novaya Gazeta has been killed. Novaya Gazeta is ending its existence," Sokolov said in a statement on YouTube, adding that the editorial team had been forced to end its work.

Founded in 1993 after the Soviet collapse, the newspaper had its media licence revoked following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with journalists questioned, detained and their homes searched. It was also designated a "foreign agent" — a label the Kremlin has used to stifle dissent.

Several Novaya Gazeta reporters have been murdered. They include Anna Politkovskaya, who investigated alleged abuses by Russia's military in Chechnya and was found dead in her apartment block on President Vladimir Putin's birthday in October 2006.

Former editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his efforts to defend freedom of expression at the paper, but was subsequently declared a foreign agent and formally stepped down.

Sokolov said the paper had managed to operate for nearly five years of war while surrounded by intelligence services. "But now, that's it. We've ended up in a kill zone," he said. He described the closure as reflecting "the story of a country and a society that are being finished off" in the same manner, according to Sokolov.