Novaya Gazeta (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism in Russia. It was formerly published in Moscow until shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began. The print edition was published on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until 2022. Since then Novaya Gazeta has appeared online only, though its editorial team is still working out of Moscow, which is seen by some as one sign of resistance. English-language articles on the website are published on a weekly basis in the form of the Russia, Explained newsletter. As of 2023, the newspaper had a daily print circulation of 108,000, and online visits of 613,000.
Seven journalists, including Yuri Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, and Anastasia Baburova, have been murdered since 2000, in connection with their investigations. In October 2021, editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Maria Ressa, for their safeguarding of freedom of expression in their homelands.
In March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the newspaper suspended publication within Russia due to increased government censorship. The next month, a European edition of the paper, Europe, was launched from Riga, Latvia, in order to avoid censorship; the website was blocked in Russia later that month. In July, the newspaper launched a magazine, Novaya Rasskaz-Gazeta,«НО». Поехали! Редакция «Новой газеты» запустила новый журнал и сайт , Новая газета, 15.07.2022 with its website blocked shortly later. In September 2022, Russian authorities revoked Russian media license.
History 1990s A group of former journalists from Komsomolskaya Pravda organised the newspaper in 1993. Its first name was (Daily New Gazette). Mikhail Gorbachev used the money from his 1990 Nobel Peace Prize to help establish the and purchase its first computers.
2000s
On 26 November 2001, published an article by Oleg Lurie stating that the management of the International Industrial Bank, headed by Sergey Pugachyov, had been involved in money laundering through the Bank of New York. Pugachyov's bank brought a libel suit against the newspaper, citing financial losses, as a number of its customers had allegedly changed the terms of their accounts in a way which made the bank lose money because of the publication of the article. On 28 February 2002, the bank won the case in Moscow's Basmanny municipal court, and was awarded 15 million rubles (about $500,000) in lost revenue, an unprecedented sum for Russian newspapers that might undermine the very existence of , especially as on 22 February had been ordered by the same Basmanny court to pay about $1 million for a corruption allegation against the Krasnodar Krai's top judge. In April, the decision in the International Industrial Bank case was reconfirmed by a court. However, in a 27 May 2002 article, Yulia Latynina, a journalist, revealed that the bank's three customers who had been named in the lawsuit were its subsidiaries or otherwise controlled by its board of directors, and claimed that had requested that a criminal fraud investigation be opened into the activities of the bank. As a result, in June 2002 the International Industrial Bank renounced its claim to the compensation.
In 2004, the newspaper printed seven articles by columnist Georgy Rozhnov which accused Sergey Kiriyenko of embezzling US$4.8 billion of International Monetary Fund moneys in 1998 when he was Prime Minister of Russia. The newspaper based the accusations on a letter allegedly written to Colin Powell and signed by U.S. Congressmen Philip Crane, Mike Pence, Charlie Norwood, Dan Burton, and Henry Bonilla, and posted on the website of the American Defense Council. The newspaper claimed that Kiriyenko had used some of the embezzled funds to purchase real estate in the United States. It was later revealed that the letter was a prank concocted by The eXile, a Moscow-based tabloid. In response, Kiriyenko sued and Rozhnov for libel, and in passing judgment in favour of Kiriyenko the court ordered to retract all publications relating to the accusations and went on to say that the newspaper "is obliged to publish only officially proven information linking Mr Kiriyenko with embezzlement."
On 13 April 2009, the newspaper was granted the first-ever print interview in a Russian publication with President Dmitri Medvedev, in which he discussed issues such as civil society and the social contract, transparency of public officials, and Internet development.
2010s; cyber attack and investigative reporting
On 26 January 2010, the paper's website was subjected to a denial-of-service cyber attack, and effectively taken offline. As of 1 February 2010, the site was still inaccessible. At the peak of the attack the server was receiving 1.5 million connections per second.Hacker Attack Freezes Novaya Gazeta's Web Site , Nikolaus von Twickel, Moscow Times, 1 February 2010 The newspaper maintained its online presence by publishing articles on its page on LiveJournal, a Russian-owned social networking service.Blog posts related to the DDOS attack , Novaya Gazeta, 2010. On 7 April 2011, the website was targeted again with the same botnet that appeared to be used in a large-scale attack on LiveJournal, which hosted many opposition blogs.
On 25 July 2014, the paper opened with "Vergeef ons, Nederland" / "Прости, Голландия" ("Forgive us, Netherlands" in both Dutch and Russian), in response to the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster.
In early 2016 the newspaper published an article alleging the existence of a so-called "Blue Whale" game, a social network phenomenon reportedly consisting of a series of initially innocuous tasks assigned to players by administrators, before elements of self-harm are introduced, culminating in a final challenge requiring the player to commit suicide. The publication of the article caused a moral panic to sweep Russia.
After published an investigation in October 2018 by journalist Denis Korotkov about Russian mercenary leader and oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, Korotkov and the editor-in-chief were the target of threatening deliveries of a severed ram's head and funeral flowers to the newspaper's offices. The style of the threat resembled others by Kremlin-linked Prigozhin."Six red carnations and one severed ram’s head: Deadly threats sent to Russian independent newspaper" , Global Voices, 18 October 2018
In 2017 published reports about anti-gay purges in Chechnya, where 3 men were allegedly killed, and dozens detained and intimidated. After publication, the Chechen government denied the existence of persecutions in the Republic. The newspaper published a report by Elena Milashina and a list of 27 Chechens killed on 26 January 2017. The newspaper also addressed the report and the list to the Investigative Committee of Russia, and asked the committee to investigate the matter. While published the names of 27 killed Chechens in the list, the newspaper said that the real number might be even more, possibly 56. The newspaper said that the allegedly killed Chechens were detained by the local security service, put in custody inside guarded territory owned by the Grozny traffic police regiment, and executed on 26 January both by gunfire and by asphyxiation by State Security forces without filing any legal accusations.
2020s; Novaya Gazeta Europe
In October 2021, editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Maria Ressa, for their safeguarding of freedom of expression in their homelands.
Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov stated that the newspaper would publish an edition in both Russian and Ukrainian in solidarity. On 4 March 2022, after receiving an official warning from Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal agency responsible for censoring Russian mass media, the newspaper said it would remove materials and cut reporting on the war. It published materials from occupied Kherson and other Ukrainian cities. On 28 March, after it received another warning from Roskomnadzor, the newspaper announced that it would suspend its online and print activities until the end of the "special military operation".
On 7 April 2022, as a result of the crackdown, journalists from announced the launch of Europe, with its editor-in-chief, Kirill Martynov, stating that Europe would be independent from "both legally and in practice", with its newsroom consisting of staffers who had left Russia. The new outlet would publish articles in other languages aside from Russian, and Martynov stated that the journalists hoped to eventually resume their work in Moscow. On 29 April 2022, Europe announced that its website had been blocked in Russia. On 15 July, staff launched the magazine Novaya Rasskaz-Gazeta, with its first issue containing analysis of Putin's ideology; however by 24 July, the website was blocked in Russia.
On 6 May 2022, the first print issue of Europe appeared on newsstands in Riga, Latvia, and online at novayagazeta.eu. The print version is published by Rīgas Viļņi in Riga, Latvia.
On 28 July 2022, Roskomnadzor demanded that media license be cancelled, claiming that "the editorial office was not providing its editorial statute within the timeframe established by the law on media". On 5 September, the Basmanny District Court in Moscow cancelled the newspaper's license in Russia, which Muratov called "political". That same month the Russian Supreme Court revoked online license, making it no longer available on the internet in Russia.
On 28 June 2023, the Prosecutor-General of Russia designated Novaya-Gazeta Europe as an undesirable organisation.
As of 2023, the newspaper had a daily print circulation of 108,000, and online visits of 613,000.
Muratov's Novaya Gazeta first opened an office in Latvia, next in Germany, and, in 2024, in Paris.
In 2024, the documentary, Of Caravan and the Dogs, was released. The film uses videos from several months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine until Novaya Gazeta, Radio Echo of Moscow, and Rain TV closed down and its staff fled to other countries for their safety.
On 9 April 2026, Russian Police raided the newspaper's headquarters.
Key people
In a video posted by on YouTube in January 2017, editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov revealed that the newspaper's employees jointly owned 76% of its shares, while the remaining 24% were owned by Alexander Lebedev (14%) and Mikhail Gorbachev (10%).
Since 2009, the newspaper's editor-in-chief has been elected every second year by the editorial staff in a secret ballot. A few days before the November 2017 election, Muratov announced that he would not stand, as he felt that there was need for a change after his 22 years in the position, but that he would continue to work for the newspaper. He was replaced by Sergey Kozheurov, the general director of the newspaper and its first editor-in-chief. However, Muratov was re-elected again in November 2019.
Deaths and attacks on journalists