Russia’s Novaya Gazeta shuts Moscow office after 30 years
Why it matters: The closure removes one of Russia’s last major independent outlets still operating inside the country.
Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s best-known independent newspapers, shut its Moscow office on Nov. 9 after saying sustained state pressure made it impossible to continue. The outlet, founded in 1993 by Dmitry Muratov and Mikhail Gorbachev, had spent three decades publishing investigations into corruption, human rights abuses and abuses of power. Its staff packed up after authorities branded the paper a “foreign agent,” blocked reader donations, seized its printing house, revoked its media registration and restricted its online platforms. The closure ends a rare critical voice that stayed in Russia after the Kremlin’s sweeping censorship crackdown following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.