Novaya Gazeta co-founder Dmitry Muratov in Moscow in February 2021. Archive photograph. Photo: Michał Siergiejevicz / Wikimedia Commons. Resized under CC BY 2.0.
Russia’s Novaya Gazeta said it will turn off its servers and leave its longtime Moscow home on November 9, accusing Russian authorities and security services of forcing the newsroom to stop working.
In a statement published Friday, the newspaper said an eviction letter had arrived alongside the shutdown of the donation system that allowed readers to support its journalism. The newsroom described the loss of premises and funding as a coordinated effort against it.
“On November 9, we will turn off the lights in our home, where we have lived for 30 years, switch off the servers and leave,” the statement said, translated from Russian.
The newspaper’s account traced years of pressure on the organization: blocked online resources, the loss of its media registration, searches of its newsroom and an editor’s home, and the designation of journalists and the newsroom as “foreign agents.” Those descriptions and the allegation that state pressure forced the closure are the newsroom’s own.
The statement also referred to violence against its journalists and the attack on co-founder Dmitry Muratov, and said the newspaper had continued operating despite increasing restrictions.
The newsroom said one final issue would appear. Its announcement did not describe a replacement publication or give a date for restarting operations.
JBizNews Desk | Moscow
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