Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper that has long been critical of the government, will stop publishing print and online content until the end of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement was made Monday by Novaya Gazeta's editorial board. In early March, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a measure that prohibits the spread of "fake news" about the military, including news outlets referring to an "invasion" or "war" in Ukraine. Novaya Gazeta said that earlier this month, Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, ordered the removal of articles about the war from its website, and on Sunday, warned against publishing an interview between independent Russian journalists and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Novaya Gazeta's editor, Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, submitted questions for the interview with Zelensky, which was posted on the president's Telegram channel over the weekend. Novaya Gazeta was launched in 1993, and since then, six of its journalists have been murdered, including prominent Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot and killed inside an elevator in 2006.
Since the start of the invasion, several independent Russian media outlets have paused operations, including TV Rain and the Echo of Moscow. Read more at CNN.