Novaya Gazeta closes after 30 years amid Russian pressure

Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s oldest independent newspaper, will close after three decades of operation. The staff blame the authorities and security services for forcing the newsroom to stop work, calling the shutdown “a coordinated operation.”

The closure follows an order on October 29 to vacate its office on Potapovsky Lane in central Moscow. The newspaper also lost the ability to collect donations when its payment system stopped working.

“This morning calls for all of us to cry. I’ve spent several days writing about the markers that tell you how high the floodwaters have risen. Now another one — not just a marker, but a milestone, a big bright lighthouse — has been swept away by a murky wave.”

Editors plan to publish one final edition before shutting down servers and leaving the Moscow office on November 9. It remains unclear how many employees will lose their jobs, and staff warn they face income loss and continued threat of repression.

Founded in 1993 with help from Mikhail Gorbachev, the paper built a reputation for investigations into corruption, police violence, rigged elections and rights abuses in Chechnya. Six reporters connected to the paper have been killed over the years, including Anna Politkovskaya, whose murder marked its 20th anniversary this year.

Pressure intensified recently. In April, police detained managing editor Oleg Roldugin, who faces prosecution on accusations of illegally collecting personal data. Earlier this month, officers searched the newspaper’s premises.

The paper stopped printing soon after Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Courts later cancelled its media licence, and the Justice Ministry designated it a “foreign agent,” after which it moved online.

Journalists and public figures have reacted with grief. Literary critic Galina Yuzefovich described the newspaper as a lighthouse swept away by a murky wave, while journalist Katerina Gordeeva said the Russian authorities had killed Novaya Gazeta.