On Monday, journalists from Russia’s top independent newspaper cleared their desks. Employees of the beloved media outlet say the government forced them to close.
Novaya Gazeta was the last independent media outlet in Russia that openly criticized the government. Most others closed or moved operations abroad in 2022 after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine. Outlet leaders feared that they might lose their publications—and their freedom.
Novaya Gazeta opened in 1993. People soon recognized the paper for its dedication to truth. Its journalists uncovered corruption and abuse across Russia. Some were murdered for sharing what they found.
In 2021, the editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work protecting freedom of expression. In 2023, the government named him a “foreign agent” for his views. The term carries a heavy weight in Russia; it labels someone a spy, traitor, or enemy. Soon after receiving the title, Muratov stepped down from his position.
In April of 2026, Moscow declared the newspaper itself a foreign agent. After that, authorities blocked all its online platforms, seized its printing house, and shut down the donation system, which readers used to support the paper.
Finally, the government ordered the paper to close its offices in the capital city.
On the newspaper’s final day, employees removed portraits of their fallen co-workers from the walls and gathered outside the building. The sign that once proudly displayed their name instead read “Here lived Novaya Gazeta.”
“Human rights and freedoms have been abolished in this country, and defending them is now treated as a crime,” the newspaper wrote in a statement.
Some of the newspaper’s leaders say they expected the shutdown. Even before conflict with Ukraine, Russian authorities wanted to silence the paper. After the war started, the repression only got worse.
But Sergei Sokolov, Novaya Gazeta’s last editor-in-chief, hasn’t lost hope. He believes that the newspaper will return one day.
