Novaya Gazeta, Russia's last independent newspaper, has ceased operations in Moscow
The Russian newspaper *Novaya Gazeta*, which had been in publication since 1993, has permanently ceased operations in Moscow due to pressure from the authorities.
The publication, during whose existence six staff members and contributors were killed (including Anna Politkovskaya, Yuri Shchekochikhin, and Anastasia Baburova), continued to operate in Russia even after a court ruling revoked the registration of its print edition in 2022.
The publication’s editor-in-chief and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, as he left the editorial office, called on people to remember Russian political prisoners and to push for the creation of new humanitarian corridors in Ukraine. The Kremlin described the publication’s closure as a “routine restructuring process.”
“We’re not saying goodbye. We’ll definitely come up with something. Because *Novaya Gazeta* isn’t just pages or a website. It’s an idea—a purpose in life for those who work here. And that cannot be killed. Nor can it be shut down. We will go on. And I am confident that the country, which has fallen into these terrible times, will finally shake itself awake. And as soon as the first signs appear, *Novaya Gazeta* will return to you, our readers and our colleagues!” said Sergei Sokolov, editor-in-chief of *Novaya Gazeta*.
During the existence of the Russian “Novaya Gazeta,” six journalists and people associated with the publication have been killed
Among the victims:
1. Igor Domnikov—a journalist who died in 2000 after being brutally beaten.
2. Yuri Shchekochikhin—an investigative journalist who died in 2003 under circumstances that his colleagues considered suspicious.
3. Anna Politkovskaya—special correspondent, murdered in 2006.
4. Anastasia Baburova—freelance journalist, murdered in 2009.
5. Natalia Estemirova—human rights activist and editor, abducted and murdered in 2009.
6. Stanislav Markelov—a lawyer who collaborated with the newspaper, murdered along with Anastasia Baburova in 2009.
Source: The Moscow Times.
Previously, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Russia’s Novaya Gazeta and others in their lawsuit against the Russian Federation regarding the ban on reporting on the war in Ukraine. The court concluded that the Russian authorities had violated the right to freedom of expression by prohibiting deviation from the Kremlin’s official narrative in coverage of the war, as well as a number of other rights of the plaintiffs.
Roskomnadzor blocked online access to the Russian-language version of the independent publication The Moscow Times due to the publication of an article about the refusal of the Russian OMON to participate in combat operations in Ukraine.
