Russia's Novaya Gazeta, the independent newspaper once led by Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov, says it will shut down on 9 November after authorities searched its editor's home.
Novaya Gazeta, one of the last independent newspapers still operating in Russia, announced on Friday 30 October that it is closing. In a video statement posted on YouTube, editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said the paper is "ceasing to exist" and that the Russian special services had forced the editorial team to end its work. He said the staff will turn off the lights in their office on 9 November, after about 30 years, and will shut down the servers.
Sokolov linked the decision to recent pressure from the authorities. Earlier this month he was taken in for questioning and his home was searched in connection with a criminal case against his colleague Oleg Roldugin, who was arrested in April and charged with "unlawful access to computerised information", without further details being made public. Roldugin pleaded not guilty, according to the state news agency RIA, and remains under house arrest, which the newspaper says has been extended until 10 November while he awaits trial.
The closure follows years of mounting restrictions. Russian authorities have imposed near-Soviet levels of censorship since the full-scale offensive in Ukraine began in February 2022, pushing most independent journalists into exile. Novaya Gazeta reduced its production inside Russia after the offensive began, had its media licence revoked the same year, and is classified by Moscow as a "foreign agent", a label used to stifle dissent. Its former editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. The details reported here come from the paper's own announcement as relayed by news agencies; Russian authorities' account of the case against Roldugin has not been detailed publicly.
