Russiaupdated 2h ago2 min read
MapRussian Security Services Force Novaya Gazeta To Cease Operations, Editor Says
4 Asian4 Western Alternative4 Western Mainstream4 Other source typesMap: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Novaya Gazeta will cease operations on November 9 due to state and security service pressure. It is one of Russia's last independent papers, signaling a crackdown on dissent.
Save coverage image
Novaya Gazeta shuts down
Novaya Gazeta announced it would cease operations on November 9, saying, "On November 9 we will turn off the lights in the home where we have lived for 30 years, shut down the servers and leave." Sergei Sokolov told CNN that "Novaya Gazeta has been killed," and he said Russian security services forced the editorial team to cease operations.
The editorial board said the Russian authorities and intelligence services forced the editorial staff to stop working, and it framed the closure as a result of sustained pressure. The paper said it had been evicted from its Potapovsky Street newsroom in central Moscow, where journalists had worked for 29 years, and it said the museum space dedicated to Anna Politkovskaya would also close.
Pressure, arrests, and raids
Russian authorities searched the home of Novaya Gazeta’s senior editor and arrested the editor-in-chief, and the editorial board said the newspaper was forced to end its operations. Sergei Sokolov said in a video statement that "On November 9 we will turn off the lights in our home, where we have lived for 30 years," and he linked the pressure to earlier questioning after authorities searched his home.
The paper said its donation system was shut off at the same time as the eviction notice, and it said, "In other words, they deprived us of any funding," while it described the action as coordinated. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said he was "deeply concerned and saddened" by the closure and described it as another "devastating blow" for remaining independent media in Russia.
What is at stake
Amnesty International said the closure of Novaya Gazeta was a "devastating loss" for everyone in Russia who turns to independent, investigative journalism to uncover the truth. Amnesty International said the paper had withstood years of mounting state pressure, including "criminal prosecutions, raids and attacks on staff members," and it said journalists had been killed for doing their jobs.
The Guardian reported that Novaya Gazeta cited intolerable pressure, including being stripped of its newsroom, its donation platforms and its legal right to publish, and it quoted Sergei Sokolov writing, "This is not just our own story; it is the story of a country and a society that are being systematically crushed." The newspaper said it had been deprived of the means to operate after the 4 September 2026 designation of the newspaper’s entire editorial team as "foreign agents," and it said the editorial statement described the eviction and donation cut off as the final straw.