Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the sites of many Russian and foreign media have been blocked in Russia. “Novaya Gazeta” was the last stronghold of the free press still in operation.
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“No other solution” in front of the “military censorship”. The Russian Independent Newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced on Monday March 28 to suspend its publications until the end of the war in Ukraine. The newspaper took the action after receiving a second warning from Russia’s telecoms policeman for breaching a controversial “foreign agents” law.
Specifically, it is blamed on Novaya Gazeta for not specifying that an NGO mentioned in one of its articles was qualified as a “foreign agent” by the Russian authorities, as required by law.
Pillar of investigative journalism, Novaya Gazeta has been publishing investigations into corruption and human rights violations in Russia for almost thirty years. In 2021, this work, which cost the lives of several of its reporters, earned its editor, Dmitry Muratov, the Nobel Peace Prize.
This award and the international aura of Novaya Gazeta seemed so far to have relatively preserved the pressures. But since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, the authorities have tightened their grip even more around the last independent media in the country.
According to Dmitry Muratovthe editorial team continued its work for 34 days “under conditions of military censorship”, since the launch of the Russian offensive. On March 22, he announced that he would sell his Nobel Prize medal for the benefit of Ukrainian refugees.