Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta shuts under Kremlin pressure
AI generated
MOSCOW -
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newspaper → shut → pressure
Russia’s flagship independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced on Oct 30 it was closing, saying it had been “killed” by state pressure after years of repression targeting its journalists whose reporting was critical of the Kremlin and its Ukraine war.
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reporting → announce → Kremlin
The closure of Novaya Gazeta – one of the last outlets to openly criticise Russia’s offensive – marks the latest outcome of Moscow’s campaign against dissenting voices, which intensified after the Kremlin sent troops into its neighbour in 2022.
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Kremlin → criticise → 2022
Since then, the newspaper, long considered a bastion of independent journalism, has seen its media licence revoked and its journalists and editors questioned, detained and their homes searched.
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homes → consider → journalism
It was also branded a “foreign agent” – a label reminiscent of Soviet-era repression used to stifle dissent.
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It → brand → dissent
The paper’s Nobel Prize-winning founder, Dmitry Muratov, told AFP the closure was “part of a giant military campaign being waged by the Russian Federation”.
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closure → win → Federation
And we are a part that needed to be destroyed,” Muratov, the paper’s former editor-in-chief, said.
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Muratov → need → chief
Novaya Gazeta’s current editor-in-chief, Sergei Sokolov, said the paper was “ending its existence” in a statement published on YouTube on the morning of Oct 30.
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paper → say → Oct
“The Russian authorities – the Russian special services – have forced the editorial team to end its work,” Sokolov said in the emotional video.
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Sokolov → force → video
Founded in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Novaya Gazeta was one of Russia’s most reputable and renowned organisations reporting and documenting human rights abuses.
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Gazeta → found → abuses
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, donated some of his Nobel Peace Prize money to help set up the paper.
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Gorbachev → donate → paper
Rights groups condemned the move.
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groups → condemn → move
The newspaper’s closure was “yet another devastating blow for remaining independent media in the Russian Federation” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
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Turk → remain → statement
Reporters Without Borders chief, Thibaut Bruttin, said: “Novaya Gazeta will remain THE symbol of free, pluralistic, independent, and rigorous journalism – a model for the entire profession around the world.”
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Gazeta → say → world
Amnesty International said the closure was a “devastating loss for everyone in Russia who turns to independent, investigative journalism to uncover the truth.”
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who → say → truth
Several Novaya Gazeta reporters have been murdered in killings widely seen as retribution for their work.
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reporters → murder → work
They include Anna Politkovskaya, who spent years investigating allegations of abuses by Russia’s military during its campaigns in Chechnya.
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who → include → Chechnya
She was found dead in her apartment block on President Vladimir Putin’s birthday in October 2006.
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She → find → October
Muratov, who was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his work, had to step down as editor-in-chief two years later after being declared a “foreign agent”.
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who → award → chief
‘In a kill zone’
The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee on Oct 30 called on Russian authorities to “end their repression of independent media”.
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Committee → call → media
“The closure is a grave blow to freedom of expression and the public’s right to information,” committee president Jorgen Watne Frydnes told AFP in an email.
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Frydnes → tell → email
Sokolov in his video statement said that Novaya Gazeta for nearly five years of war “managed to operate while completely surrounded by intelligence services.
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Gazeta → say → services
But now, that’s it.
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that → ’ → ?
We’ve ended up in a kill zone.”
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We → end → zone
“This isn’t just our own private story – it’s the story of a country and a society that are being finished off in exactly the same way.”
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that → ’ → way
The paper, which used to be published several times a week, cut down production inside the country after the war began, but its online version was still available despite court orders.
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version → use → orders
In recent months, the Russian authorities searched the home of Sokolov and earlier in 2026 arrested one of its journalists, Oleg Roldugin.
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authorities → search → journalists
“Human rights and freedoms have been abolished, and their defence has been equated with a crime,” Sokolov said in the video statement.
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Sokolov → abolish → statement
“Beliefs have become state treason.”
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Beliefs → become → ?
All these years we wrote precisely about this, for as long as we could.
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we → write → this
Thank you to everyone who listened to us.
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who → thank → us
And the final issue will come out.”
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issue → come → ?
The Aporia
