November 06, 2026

"The Newspaper No Longer Exists."


"The Newspaper No Longer Exists."
Dmitri Muratov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta. The Russian Life files.

Major independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, announced that the paper is ceasing operations. According to fellow media outlet Insider, the Novaya Gazeta editorial staff is being evicted from its building on Potapovsky Lane in central Moscow.

Novaya Gazeta was founded in 1993 and became famous for investigative journalism on the most dangerous topics, which earn it international fame. Over the years, six of the paper's journalists were murdered or died under unexplained circumstances. The most famous of these was Anna Politkovskaya, who was assassinated in 2006 for her investigations into Russia's war in Chechnya. Politkovskaya’s former office housed a museum dedicated to her; this museum will also be closed.

In March 2022, the editorial staff suspended publication of the print edition due to warnings from Roskomnadzor; in September of that year, a court revoked the publication’s registration as a media outlet. Nevertheless, hard-hitting articles continued to be published on Novaya Gazeta’s website, including reports by Elena Kostyuchenko from Ukraine.

Yet, sensational headlines about the closure of “the last free media outlet in Russia” do not reflect reality.

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, like other media outlets that chose to remaining in the country, Novaya Gazeta was forced to comply with strict censorship requirements and make numerous compromises. Furthermore, there are other independent media outlets in Russia that continue to try working as best they can. They are not, however, as well-known and influential, and the very fact that Novaya Gazeta survived for nearly five years of war defies belief. Few Russians are surprised by these developments.

Back in April 2026, security forces raided the newspaper’s offices and detained columnist Oleg Roldugin. In September, the Ministry of Justice added Novaya Gazeta to its registry of foreign agents. In October, editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov’s home was searched. The final straw was the newspaper’s forced eviction from its premises.

“The newspaper no longer exists,” the journalists wrote in their appeal to readers. “Russian authorities and Russian security services have forced the editorial staff to cease operations... More than thirty years of living alongside the country and its citizens will end with us on the street, without a means of subsistence, under the constant threat of repression.”

 

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