Novaya Gazeta shuts newsroom under Kremlin pressure

Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s best-known independent newspapers, held its final editorial meeting and emptied its office on Monday after saying last month that it was closing under Kremlin pressure.

Russian outlets Sota Vision and Ostorozhno Novosti reported the final meeting. Images published by Ostorozhno Novosti showed editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov taking down photographs of reporters murdered in killings widely seen as retribution for their work.

The photographs included one of Anna Politkovskaya, who investigated allegations of abuses by Russia’s military during its campaigns in Chechnya and criticised President Vladimir Putin’s long rule. She was found dead in her apartment block in October 2006.

In a video last month, Sokolov said the paper had “been killed” and was shutting down after “the Russian authorities -- the Russian special services -- have forced the editorial team to end its work”.

Rights groups including Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International condemned the move. UN rights chief Volker Turk said in October that the closure was “yet another devastating blow for remaining independent media in the Russian Federation”.

The United Kingdom and Finland, in a joint statement as co-chairs of the Media Freedom Coalition, said the closure was “a stark reminder of the sustained pressure facing independent journalism in Russia”. They called on Russia to “end the repression of independent media and journalists”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected that framing on Monday, calling the closure “a normal cycle of change”. He said it would be wrong to say the era of independent Russian media was ending and described the Russian media environment as diverse and competitive.

Novaya Gazeta was founded in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It had been branded a “foreign agent”, and its journalists had been detained and questioned.