The independent Russian newspaper Novaja Gazeta has announced it will cease operations on November 9. After three decades of work, the publication said coordinated pressure from the Russian state and security services made continuing impossible.
The final blow came this week. The editorial team is being evicted from its Moscow office, a home for 29 years. At the same time, the system for receiving reader donations was shut down. The paper rejects the explanation that banks acted on their own internal rules. It states clearly that the Russian state’s repressive apparatus stands behind these actions.
This is the culmination of years of intensifying pressure. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the paper’s website has been blocked. Its media registration was revoked. Several journalists were labeled „foreign agents,” including editor-in-chief and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov. A correspondent in Chechnya was assaulted. Police raided the newsroom and an editor’s apartment.
In 2022, the paper suspended its print edition. Last year, it was itself declared a „foreign agent.” Now, with the loss of its office and funding, the online publication will also end.
In a final statement, the editorial staff connected their closure to the broader situation in Russia. They cited the constitutional article that bans censorship, arguing the authorities’ actions violate this fundamental principle. They wrote that this is not just the end of a newspaper’s story. It shows the consequences of suppressing independent voices in the country.
- Coordinated pressure from the Russian state
- Eviction from Moscow office
- Shut down of reader donations
- Website blocked since the war in Ukraine
- Labeling of journalists as „foreign agents”
- Censorship violations
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Suspension of print edition |
| 2022 | Declared a „foreign agent” |
| 2023 | Eviction from office |
| 2023 | Shutdown of reader donations |
| November 9, 2023 | Cease operations |
Their message ended with a simple line of thanks to those who listened to them over the years. The lights in their home for 30 years will be turned off on November 9. The servers will go dark. The paper will exist no more.
