The closing of Novaya Gazeta is the end of one of the beacons of the "other Russia". Le Monde. For many Russians, it was much more than just an editorial office. The historic headquarters of Novaya Gazeta, the bastion of the free press in Moscow, located on Potpovsky Street in a modernist building in the heart of the capital, served as a refuge, a beacon for those who advocate for a "different Russia", different from the one represented by the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin's regime. Today Novaya Gazeta closes forever. After 33 years of existence. After 5 years of war in Ukraine and pressure from the authorities, trying to survive, thanks to more and more inventive ways to reach readers. Forced to publish only online and only sporadically in paper format, the tri-weekly newspaper of 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov is leaving its headquarters and ceasing its editorial work. Novaya Gazeta, which since September has been listed as a "foreign agent" - a classification reminiscent of the Soviet "enemies of the people" and imposes countless Kafkaesque formalities - is now under threat of prosecution as an "extremist organization". Her "friends" can be arrested and sentenced to long prison terms. The closure of an independent publication against the war in Vladimir Putin's Russia is not surprising. The biggest surprise is how Novaya Gazeta managed to continue its activities through almost five years of war. Since February 2022, its journalists have continued their work as best they can, despite the fact that the license has been revoked and the website has been blocked. Based on facts, but operating cautiously, strictly adhering to increasingly repressive laws and imposing increasingly strict self-censorship on itself, Novaya Gazeta did not cover events at the front, as any article on a military issue risked prosecution for spreading "fake news about the military." It was possible to understand everything between the lines.

The closing of Novaya Gazeta is the end of one of the beacons of the "other Russia". Le Monde. For many Russians, it was much more than just an editorial office. The historic headquarters of Novaya Gazeta, the bastion of the free press in Moscow, located on Potpovsky Street in a modernist building in the heart of the capital, served as a refuge, a beacon for those who advocate for a "different Russia", different from the one represented by the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin's regime. Today Novaya Gazeta closes forever. After 33 years of existence. After 5 years of war in Ukraine and pressure from the authorities, trying to survive, thanks to more and more inventive ways to reach readers. Forced to publish only online and only sporadically in paper format, the tri-weekly newspaper of 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov is leaving its headquarters and ceasing its editorial work. Novaya Gazeta, which since September has been listed as a "foreign agent" - a classification reminiscent of the Soviet "enemies of the people" and imposes countless Kafkaesque formalities - is now under threat of prosecution as an "extremist organization". Her "friends" can be arrested and sentenced to long prison terms. The closure of an independent publication against the war in Vladimir Putin's Russia is not surprising. The biggest surprise is how Novaya Gazeta managed to continue its activities through almost five years of war. Since February 2022, its journalists have continued their work as best they can, despite the fact that the license has been revoked and the website has been blocked. Based on facts, but operating cautiously, strictly adhering to increasingly repressive laws and imposing increasingly strict self-censorship on itself, Novaya Gazeta did not cover events at the front, as any article on a military issue risked prosecution for spreading "fake news about the military." It was possible to understand everything between the lines.