A symbol of independent journalism, Novaya Gazeta has been classified as a “foreign agent” by Moscow.
Published on October 30, 2026
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced its closure, citing pressure from authorities.
The independent newspaper’s editorial board said in a statement released Friday that the newspaper had been forced to cease operations.
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Russian media have come under increased state surveillance amid Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Authorities recently raided the home of the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta and arrested the editor-in-chief.
“The newspaper has disappeared. The Russian authorities and (…) the intelligence services forced the editorial staff to cease its activities,” the editorial staff said in a statement titled: “We have been killed.”
Considered a relative bastion of independent journalism in Russia, Novaya Gazeta has been classified as a “foreign agent” by Moscow, a label used to stifle dissent.
“Novaya Gazeta ceases to exist,” editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov said in a video statement posted on YouTube. “On November 9, we will turn off the lights in our house, where we have lived for 30 years. We will shut down the servers and leave.”
Earlier this month, Sokolov was questioned as Russian authorities searched his home due to what they said was a link to a criminal case involving his colleague Oleg Roldugin.
Roldugin was arrested in April and charged with “illegal access to computerized information.”
“How far will the Kremlin’s relentless campaign against Novaya Gazeta go? asked media watchdog Reporters Without Borders in a statement after Sokolov’s October 15 arrest.
“Six of its journalists and collaborators were assassinated, its editorial staff was raided, its journalists were prosecuted and the newspaper was described as a ‘foreign agent’.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he was “deeply concerned and saddened” by the closure, describing it as another “devastating blow” to Russia’s remaining independent media.
Turk said pressure on independent journalism had intensified significantly since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, through increasingly restrictive legislation, tighter state controls and the persecution of journalists.
He noted that his office had repeatedly expressed concerns about the broader crackdown on the media, including the “foreign agents” law and its effects on civil and political rights.
The forced closure of Novaya Gazeta marks a new escalation in Russia’s crackdown on press freedom, with few independent media outlets and journalists in the country, while levels of censorship and arrests of regime critics have soared since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022.
The newspaper had already reduced its production in Russia after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with authorities withdrawing its media license.
The newspaper’s editor-in-chief at the time, Dmitry Muratov, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression” as head of the newspaper.
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