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Novaya Gazeta, Russia's top independent newspaper, closes its Moscow office citing state pressure

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calls the closure part of a "standard rotational process," while the paper says authorities and security services forced it to stop.

11 news outlets reported this · Little coverage from conservative outlets
Liberal4 outletsKremlin crackdown on press freedom ends a newspaperCenter6 outletsClosure, Kremlin's dismissal and Muratov's appealConservative1 outletA famed newspaper closes, citing official pressure
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

Novaya Gazeta, a Russian investigative newspaper launched in 1993, closed its Moscow offices on Monday, citing pressure from authorities. Journalists held a final editorial meeting, and portraits of slain colleagues were taken down from the newsroom. NBC News and the Associated Press describe it as the last major independent newspaper, or outlet critical of the Kremlin, still active in Russia.

The paper said in an Oct. 30 statement that Russian authorities and security services had made its editorial team stop working. It had been labelled a foreign agent, its reader donation system was shut down, and it was ordered to leave its offices. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the closure was part of a standard rotational process.

Co-founder Dmitry Muratov, a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said constitutional guarantees of political and civil rights had ceased to function. Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said he believes the paper will return one day. Anna Politkovskaya, found dead in 2006, ranks among the paper's six slain journalists.

Some staff who left Russia in 2022 opened a separate outlet, Novaya Gazeta Europe. DW reports the paper's leadership has not made it entirely clear whether this is a definitive end.

Key figures
  • SixNovaya Gazeta journalists killed since the paper's launch, per the AP reportABC News
  • around 4,000people Muratov called political prisoners in Russia and wants releasedDeutsche Welle

Three sides of the story

4Liberal6Center1Conservative

11 news outlets reported this · Little coverage from conservative outlets

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal4 outlets

Kremlin crackdown on press freedom ends a newspaper

NBC News headlines the shutdown as the end of Russia's last major independent newspaper, "citing Kremlin assault on free press." Al Jazeera English opens with the paper ending operations "due to pressure from authorities" and ties it to the foreign agent label, "a label used to stifle dissent." It adds the October search of editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov's home and his questioning, and the April arrest of editor Oleg Roldugin.

It quotes UN rights chief Volker Turk calling the closure "yet another devastating blow for remaining independent media." It also says the Kremlin played it down as "a normal cycle of change." Muratov says constitutional guarantees had "effectively ceased to function."

ABC News carries the AP report, which quotes the paper's own statement that "Human rights and freedoms have been abolished in this country." It also quotes investigations editor Tatiana Britskaya on losing "our home" and Sokolov saying the paper will return.

Center6 outlets

Closure, Kremlin's dismissal and Muratov's appeal

Courthouse News runs the AP report: the paper closed its Moscow offices Monday, citing "relentless pressure from government officials." It quotes the Oct. 30 statement that authorities and security services forced the newsroom to stop, and Sokolov's belief that the paper will return. Deutsche Welle headlines the Moscow newsroom shutting and sets out the foreign agent label, the ban on donation processing and the order to vacate.

It gives space to Muratov's free speech appeal, his ceasefire call, and his push to free around 4,000 people he called political prisoners. DW quotes Peskov calling it a "rotational process" and says the leadership has not made it entirely clear whether this is a definitive end. Journalist Irina Vorobyova says the paper's spirit will survive like a "good virus."

BBC News, in a short report, says the paper closed "after eviction," notes 30 years of investigations, quotes Peskov saying Russia's media is highly diverse, and says it spoke to Muratov.

Conservative1 outlet

A famed newspaper closes, citing official pressure

The Washington Times carries a report under the headline "Russia's top independent newspaper closes its office after three decades, citing official pressure." It reports that Novaya Gazeta shut its Moscow offices on Monday and gives the paper's reason as "relentless pressure from government officials."

All sources: 13 articles from 11 outlets

Liberal (6)

Center (6)

Conservative (1)