Russia's Novaya Gazeta says it will shut down by 9 November
The country's last major independent newspaper says a weeks-long FSB operation has cut off its funding and its Moscow office, forcing closure after more than 30 years.
Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia's last major independent newspapers, said on Friday it will close by 9 November after what its editors described as a coordinated campaign by Russia's FSB security service to cut off its funding and evict it from its Moscow office.
"They killed us," the paper's staff wrote in a letter to readers, published in French by Le Monde. Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said the outlet had been left "without means of subsistence and under constant threat of repression" after weeks of pressure from the security services, and that it could no longer operate as it had through nearly five years of war, during which it kept publishing three times a week despite the pressure.
The paper said it would shut its office, which it has occupied in Moscow for 30 years, and take its servers offline by 9 November. Its system for receiving reader donations has been blocked, cutting off its funding entirely, the letter said.
Novaya Gazeta was founded in 1993 and became known for investigations into human rights abuses, corruption and institutional violence. Several of its journalists were killed over the years, among them Igor Domnikov, Yuri Shchekochikhin and Anna Politkovskaya. Co-founder and former editor Dmitry Muratov shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa for his efforts to defend freedom of expression.
Earlier in October, Sokolov was questioned by Russian authorities and his home was searched as part of a criminal case against a colleague, Oleg Roldugin, who was arrested in April and has been held under house arrest awaiting trial. Russian authorities have classified Novaya Gazeta as a "foreign agent", a label Moscow uses against organisations and individuals it wants to silence.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has tightened media censorship to levels its own former contributors compare to the Soviet era, pushing most independent journalists into exile, according to the paper's letter.
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What we know
- Novaya Gazeta says it will shut its Moscow office and take its servers offline by 9 November.
- Editors say weeks of pressure from Russia's FSB security service cut off the paper's funding and forced the closure.
- The paper, founded in 1993, lost several journalists to killings over the years, including Anna Politkovskaya.
- Co-founder Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for defending freedom of expression.
- Current editor Sergei Sokolov was questioned by authorities and his home searched earlier in October over a case against a colleague.
Why it matters for Europe
Novaya Gazeta was widely regarded as the last Russian outlet still publishing critical reporting on the war in Ukraine from inside the country. Its closure removes one of the few remaining independent sources of information available to readers inside Russia, at a time when most of the country's independent journalists already work from exile.
Sources
Reported by 3 reports from 3 independent outlets in 3 countries.
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Questions and answers
- Why is Novaya Gazeta closing?
- Its editors say a weeks-long campaign by Russia's FSB cut off its funding and forced it out of its Moscow office.
- When will it close?
- The paper says it will shut its office and take its servers offline on 9 November.
- Who founded Novaya Gazeta?
- It was founded in 1993; co-founder Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for defending press freedom.
This article was written with AI assistance from 2 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.