The end of Novaya Gazeta in Russia: “The newspaper no longer exists”

Novaya Gazeta "The newspaper no longer exists" As of: October 30, 2026 • 1:20 p.m

Novaya Gazeta was considered one of the most critical voices in Russia. After more than 30 years and massive pressure, it has to close. “Novaya Gazeta is ending her life,” says editor-in-chief Sokolov.

Green cardigan, light blue shirt, the insulation material of a studio behind him: This is how the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta sits in front of the camera of the in-house YouTube channel. Somehow in keeping with the dimmed lights, Sergei Sokolov's voice sounds resigned as he says that Novaya Gazeta has been "killed."

"Novaya Gazeta is ending her life. On November 9, we will turn off the lights in our house, where we have lived for 30 years. We will turn off the servers and leave. The newspaper is no longer there," Sokolov said. The Russian authorities and the Russian special services forced the editorial team to stop their work.

“Novaya Gazeta ceases to exist,” said editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov in a video message published on the online platform YouTube.

The pressure: a constant pressure that the newspaper's employees found themselves exposed to. This month, the landlord gave them a one-month deadline to vacate the editorial building in the center of Moscow. At the same time as the eviction notice, the system through which the newspaper received donations from its readers was switched off, says Solokov.

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Almost at the same time, his apartment was searched and Solokov was temporarily arrested. Novaya Gazeta reported that he was questioned as a witness at the Investigative Committee in Moscow and then returned to the editorial office. According to her, the interrogation was related to investigations against her journalist Oleg Roldugin. The journalist, known for his corruption investigations into the highest Russian circles, is accused of illegally collecting and disseminating information containing personal data.

He faces up to six years in prison. "The trial is coming soon. And in September this year, the entire editorial team was classified as a 'foreign agent', with more than 100 journalists and our authors added to the list," explains Solokov. Just a few recent examples of how much pressure the Novaya Gazeta people have been under recently.

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Journalists from the newspaper had previously been murdered. Solokov reports: "During the rule of this regime, our colleagues Igor Domnikov, Yuri Shekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Stas Markelov, Nastya Baburova and Natasha Estemirova were murdered for political reasons for fulfilling their professional duties."

Dmitri Muratov, former editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, dedicated the Nobel Peace Prize to these murdered people. It was awarded to him for “efforts to protect freedom of expression”. That was 2021 - a good year before the start of the war against Ukraine.

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In September 2022, a court in Moscow revoked Novaya Gazeta's printing license - due to an alleged formal error when changing publishers years earlier. Since then it has only appeared online in Russia, although its pages were blocked and could only be accessed via detours.

Editor-in-chief Sokolow accuses the state of continuing to violate the constitution. Freedom of the press is not protected. "The word Constitution evokes sarcasm and laughter from everyone, even from judges, especially judges. Nobody believes that this is the fundamental law of the country and that the president swore by it."

Novaya Gazeta: A medium that stood for independent, critical journalism in Russia. It will finally stop appearing in Russia on November 9th. Then there will only be Novaya Gazeta Europa, founded in Riga in 2022. But that's another story.

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | Novaya Gazeta ends its life - End for the last independent newspaper | Oct 30, 2026 | 12:08 p.m