Russia’s last remaining independent newspaper has closed its Moscow newsroom, ending 33 years of reporting that survived assassinations, censorship and war. Novaya Gazeta held its final editorial meeting on Monday, 9 November, and staff emptied the office on Potapovsky Lane in central Moscow where they had worked for 29 years.
The paper announced on 30 October that it would cease operations after what it called a coordinated campaign by the authorities. Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said in an emotional video message that the newspaper had “been killed”, adding that “the Russian authorities — the Russian special services — have forced the editorial team to end its work”.
The pressure had built over months. In September the authorities designated the paper’s entire editorial team as “foreign agents”, a label that cut off its reader donations after banks stopped processing payments. Its media registration was revoked, its website blocked, its printing arrangements terminated, and landlords ordered it to vacate its premises. In April, security officers searched the newsroom for 13 hours and arrested investigative journalist Oleg Roldugin; in October, Sokolov’s home was raided and he was detained for questioning.
Founded in 1993 with money from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s Nobel Peace Prize, Novaya Gazeta became known for investigations into corruption, human rights abuses and the wars in Chechnya, and for its criticism of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Six of its journalists were murdered, including Anna Politkovskaya, shot dead in her Moscow apartment block in October 2006. On the final day, Sokolov was photographed taking down their portraits from the newsroom wall.
Founding editor Dmitry Muratov, who shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa for defending freedom of expression, attended the final meeting. He was himself designated a foreign agent in 2023 and stepped down as editor. Rights groups including Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and PEN International condemned the closure as a devastating blow to media freedom in Russia. A separate publication, Novaya Gazeta Europe, continues to operate from outside Russia, though Moscow has designated it an “undesirable organisation”.
Sources: Reuters (via The News, https://www.thenews.pk/print/1447889-independent-russian-novaya-gazeta-newspaper-shuts-newsroom), Deutsche Welle, Associated Press (https://www.europesays.com/russia/87887/), Le Monde (https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2026/11/09/the-closure-of-novaya-gazeta-the-end-of-a-beacon-for-the-other-russia_6775903_23.html), PEN International (http://www.pen-international.org/news/russian-federation-closure-of-novaya-gazeta-a-crushing-blow-for-freedom-of-expression).
