Novaya Gazeta, Russia's most prominent independent newspaper, announced on 30 October that it will close on 9 November after authorities cut off funding and evicted its newsroom.
The paper will publish one final issue, then turn off its servers and leave its office on Potapovsky Lane in Moscow on 9 November 2026.
On 29 October 2026, the day before the closure announcement, the newsroom received an eviction notice. It said it had very little time to leave and no new office.
Eviction coincided with the closure of the service through which readers donated, leaving the paper without any other source of funding.
The Russian authorities – the Russian special services – have forced the editorial team to end its work.
The paper alleged that the FSB, the Justice Ministry and the Prosecutor's Office were acting together, and said banks invoked their own internal rules to cut off its accounts.
33 years after the Soviet collapse
Founded in 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Novaya Gazeta had operated for more than 30 years. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, contributed some of his Nobel Peace Prize award to launch the newspaper and purchase its first computers.
Warnings from Roskomnadzor, the media regulator, led the paper to halt publication in March 2022. A Moscow court revoked its media licence in September 2022.
The paper's longtime editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Philippine journalist Maria Ressa. He stepped down as editor-in-chief in 2023 after being declared a 'foreign agent'.
An attacker doused Muratov with red paint aboard a train in 2022, leaving his eyes severely irritated. The paper says authorities opened no criminal case.
Six journalists killed
The paper said the six colleagues killed in connection with their journalism were Natalya Estemirova, Anastasia Baburova, Stas Markelov, Anna Politkovskaya, Yuri Shchekochikhin and Igor Domnikov.
Found dead in her apartment block in October 2006, on President Vladimir Putin's birthday, Anna Politkovskaya had investigated abuses by Russia's military in Chechnya. Russian authorities pardoned the man convicted of killing her in 2023, after he enlisted to fight in Ukraine.
The Anna Politkovskaya Museum, housed in her former office in the same building as the newspaper, will close along with Novaya Gazeta.
We are fierce opponents of war in all its forms. And we are a part that needed to be destroyed.
The final months
Alongside more than 100 journalists and contributors, Novaya Gazeta was placed on the Justice Ministry's 'foreign agents' register in early September 2026.
In mid-October 2026, the home of editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov was searched.
Security officers raided the newsroom for 13 hours in April 2026 and detained Oleg Roldugin, whom the paper calls its managing editor. The case alleges unlawful handling of personal information. Roldugin is awaiting trial; the paper says he was in effect taken hostage for working as a journalist.
The paper had repeatedly published evidence of Russian aggression against Ukraine. In 2015, it released a memo that it said had been delivered to Putin's administration in February 2014, outlining a proposal to annex Crimea and eastern Ukraine. In 2017, it printed a witness account that helped identify a Russian colonel connected to the MH17 downing.
This isn't just our own private story – it's the story of a country and a society that are being finished off in exactly the same way.
No independent newspapers remain
No major independent newspapers will remain operating in Russia after Novaya Gazeta closes. Earlier, authorities applied similar pressure, forcing independent radio station Ekho Moskvy and the TV Rain network to end their operations inside the country.
Staff who left Russia launched Novaya Gazeta Europe, based in Riga, Latvia; Russian authorities have blocked access to it inside the country.
Since the full-scale invasion, about 1,500 journalists have departed Russia and more than 100 independent media projects have moved into exile, a CEPA report said.
Human rights and freedoms have been abolished, and their defence has been equated with a crime.
Beliefs have become state treason.
International reaction
The closure dealt a further devastating blow to the independent media that remain in the Russian Federation, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said.
Novaya Gazeta would remain a symbol of free, pluralistic, independent and rigorous journalism, said Thibaut Bruttin, chief of Reporters Without Borders.
On 30 October 2026, the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee called on Russian authorities to end their repression of independent media.
The murder of Novaya Gazeta is yet another piece of evidence. All these years we wrote precisely about this, for as long as we could. Thank you to everyone who listened to us. And the final issue will come out.
The staff said they will turn off the servers, leave their office and cease operations on 9 November, and that more details about the paper's future would come in the coming days.
- 1993Founded Novaya Gazeta established after Soviet collapse with support from Mikhail Gorbachev.
- March 2022Suspended Paper suspends publication after warnings from media regulator Roskomnadzor.
- September 2022Licence revoked Moscow court strips Novaya Gazeta of its media licence.
- 2023Muratov steps down Former editor-in-chief declared a 'foreign agent'.
- September 2026Foreign agent status Justice Ministry adds Novaya Gazeta to 'foreign agents' register with over 100 journalists and contributors.
- 29 October 2026Eviction notice Newsroom receives eviction notice and donation platform shut down.
- 30 October 2026Closure announced Novaya Gazeta announces it will close, blaming coordinated campaign by FSB, Justice Ministry and Prosecutor's Office.
- 9 November 2026Final shutdown Newspaper publishes final issue, turns off servers and leaves Moscow office.
