The hallways inside Novaya Gazeta’s Moscow offices are quiet. The feeling of emptiness is unbearable. Over thirty years ago, Muratov, sixty-four, co-founded Novaya Gazeta. It rose to prominence as Russia’s leading independent news outlet, exposing high-level corruption and violations of human rights. Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work “to safeguard freedom of expression.” The Nobel Committee reported that “six of [Novaya Gazeta’s] journalists have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaya who wrote revealing articles on the war in Chechnya.”
It was an award for brave reporting. However, according to Muratov, “Putin issued a decree and the newspaper’s printing presses were nationalised,” thus the paper was not protected.Its registration was cancelled. Novaya Gazeta is still active on the internet. However, access to its website has been banned by the authorities. Only from overseas or with the aid of virtual private networks, or VPNs, which are used to get around limitations, can it be viewed.
The newspaper’s problems are a reflection of Russia’s wider attack on free speech, which has intensified since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.The majority of opinion leaders have been labelled as “terrorists,” “foreign agents,” or “extremists.” “A few hundred,” Muratov says.At least 1,500 people have been imprisoned for speaking out against current state policy since the beginning of Russia’s “special military operation” [in Ukraine], according to a conservative estimate. That is three times greater than it was in the USSR during the brutal KGB era.
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