Sergei Brutman, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Novaya Novgorodskaya Gazeta, which has been in operation since 1999, has announced it will be closing down due to repressive laws and censorship.
In his statement, Brutman pointed out that the work of journalists looks pointless and leads to a “shredding of the press”, when it is impossible to write about the war, the main topic of 2022, and articles about “fake” and “discredit” appear in the Criminal Code.
“Twenty-three years is a very long life for current newspapers. <…> One thing has not changed: the general tone and direction of the weekly, its commitment to freedom of thought and speech. <…> [In 2022] 90 journalists were named “foreign agents” by the Ministry of Justice. At least 17 journalists were subjected to extrajudicial persecution. After February 24, more than 500 colleagues were forced to emigrate. We do not want to emigrate. This is our Motherland. It cannot be left to the mercy of the police state,” the editor-in-chief said in a statement.
Another reason for the closure of the publication is insufficient funding. According to the editor-in-chief, journalists who worked in the newspaper received "mere pennies, not enough to survive, and they looked for food wherever they could."
In early December, Sakhalin's largest news agency announced it was closing after being blocked twice by Roskomnadzor. Earlier today, several Russian regions searched the homes of journalists and politicians in the case of Ilya Ponomarev.