Novaya Gazeta Europe

Latvia · Publishing

Novaya Gazeta has been Russia's largest independent media outlet for almost 30 years. It was our country's only independent newspaper in recent years, too. Six Novaya employees have been murdered since 2000. Dmitry Muratov, the newspaper's chief editor, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for safeguarding the freedom of expression in 2021. Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Novaya Gazeta continued to spread the word of truth despite the military censorship but was forced to suspend its activities on 28 March. On 7 April we, the former employees of Novaya who left Russia, announced the launch of Novaya Gazeta Europe, a new EU-based media outlet free of Russia's censorship. We started our project with no investments, no legal registration and no bank accounts, leaving Russia with nothing but some minor savings. Our goal was to spread the word about Russia and the war. We launched our website on 20 April. It was blocked by Russian censors nine days later for «spreading fake news about the Russian army.» We are currently trying to reclaim our readers despite the censorship — because freedom of speech is more important than a dictator's will and because our newspaper will not cease to exist even though Putin bans it. Having failed to completely stamp out every independent voice and outlet in the country or force us to stay silent, the Kremlin has now labelled us as criminals. On 28 June 2023, Russia designated Novaya Gazeta Europe as an “undesirable organisation”. “The main topics of the publications [by Novaya Gazeta Europe] include false information about alleged mass violations of rights and freedoms of citizens in Russia, accusations pressed against Russia of waging an aggressive war in Ukraine, committing war crimes against civilians, and repressions,” the Prosecutor General’s Office claims. Novaya-Europe’s journalists are essentially branded criminals for telling it like it is. And we will continue to do so.