Novaya Gazeta to Close, Accusing Russian State of Killing It
Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s best-known independent newspaper, announced on Friday that it will close. It had received an eviction order, and at the same time the system it used to collect readers’ donations was disabled. “They’ve killed us,” its statement said, blaming “the repressive state apparatus”. The paper had already lost its licence, and its website was blocked.
“This is not just our own story; it is the story of a country and a society that are being systematically crushed,” wrote its editor-in-chief, Sergei Sokolov. Six journalists linked to the paper have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot 20 years ago this month. Its former editor, Dmitry Muratov, won the Nobel peace prize in 2021 but was declared a ‘foreign agent’ in 2023. This year police searched its offices and arrested the investigative reporter Oleg Roldugin. Novaya was one of the last critical voices still operating inside Russia.