Novaya Gazeta forced to close after years of state pressure and legal bans

Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s leading independent newspaper, announced on Oct 30 2026 that it will shut down after three decades of pressure from the authorities. The paper is being evicted from its Moscow offices, its websites are blocked and its media licence has been revoked. It was labelled a “foreign agent” in 2023 and banks now refuse donations from readers. Co‑founder and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov said the state chose to “strangle” the outlet, citing website blocks, licence loss and attacks on journalists as a coordinated murder. Six of its reporters, including Anna Politkovskaya, have been killed for their work; veteran journalist Oleg Roldugin was arrested earlier this year for alleged unlawful computer access, and current editor‑in‑chief Sergei Sokolov was taken for police questioning. Muratov, who won the Nobel in 2021 for defending freedom of expression, was also labelled a foreign agent in 2023. The paper, founded in 1993 after the Soviet collapse, received part of Mikhail Gorbachev’s Nobel Peace Prize money at its start. Reporters Without Borders chief Thibaut Bruttin called the closure a loss for global journalism. Readers tried to bypass blocks with VPNs, but the loss of licence and funding crippled operations. ## Context The “foreign agent” label is a legal tool the Russian state uses to silence critics. Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, new laws have targeted dissent and made independent reporting increasingly dangerous.