Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has said it will shut down, blaming what it described as a relentless campaign by the authorities that left it without financial support and an office.
In a statement issued on Friday, the newspaper said that on 9 November it will turn off the lights in the home where it has lived for 30 years, shut down its servers and leave. It said the Russian authorities and the security services had forced its editorial team to cease operations.
The newspaper said it had been evicted from its home, that the donations platform which allowed it to receive financial support from readers had been shut down, and that it had been stripped of all its resources, leaving it homeless and under the constant threat of repression.
Novaya Gazeta, which has often been highly critical of the authorities, has existed for more than three decades. Six of its journalists, including investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, have been murdered, in varying circumstances.
Pressure on independent media intensified after Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, when sweeping new censorship rules were introduced carrying long jail terms for discrediting the Russian army or disseminating what the authorities deem to be fake news.
There was no immediate comment from the authorities. The Kremlin has said in the past that some censorship is necessary at a time when Russia is locked in what it describes as an existential struggle with the West over Ukraine.
Source: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/russian-investigative-newspaper-novaya-gazeta-says-it-is-shutting-down-after-2026-10-30/
