Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta closes citing gov’t clampdown

The newspaper reported that it held its last editorial meeting on Monday and closed its newsroom. It announced last month that it was being forced to shut down after being classed as a “foreign agent” by Moscow, a label used to stifle dissent. The Russian media has come under increased scrutiny from the state amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

In October, authorities searched the home of Novaya Gazeta’s editor-in-chief, Sergei Sokolov, and took him in for questioning. Another editor at the paper, Oleg Roldugin, was arrested in April. Cofounder Dmitry Muratov addressed journalists who gathered to witness the closure of the Novaya Gazeta office in Moscow.

“Those in our country who advocate for peace have been denied the right to read what they choose, as we see happening today,” he said, adding that constitutional guarantees for political and civil rights had “effectively ceased to function”. Novaya Gazeta was one of the few remaining outlets that openly criticised Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Kremlin’s policies, amid a widening crackdown on the media and free speech.