Statement from the editorial board of NeMoskva regarding the closure of Novaya Gazeta

The final destruction of Novaya Gazeta by the Russian authorities is a sad and fitting sign of our times. Born at the turning point of history, the newspaper served as a chronicle of post-Soviet Russia for over thirty years. Through its pages, the country learned the truth about the Chechen wars, Nord-Ost, Beslan, colossal corruption, and the state's gradual slide into authoritarianism and a major war. Novaya Gazeta recorded reality honestly, and it was precisely for this that the system methodically attempted to destroy it.

The price of this truth for the editorial staff turned out to be immeasurably high. Igor Domnikov, Viktor Popkov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Anastasia Baburova, Natalya Estemirova — Novaya Gazeta's journalists and contributors who gave their lives for the right to call a spade a spade. Their portraits in the editorial office were a constant reminder that free speech in Russia comes at a very high price, but that doesn't stop it from being heard. Murders, criminal cases, blockings, and license revocations couldn't silence the newspaper as long as even the slightest legal loophole existed for its work within the country.

Today, the state is trying to put an end to the history of Novaya Gazeta, but destroying a legal entity, blocking banking services, and evicting it from its premises does not mean erasing the memory, facts, and school of honest profession.

We express our unconditional solidarity with our friends and colleagues, the editorial staff, and all readers for whom Novaya Gazeta's columns have been a breath of fresh air. The standards of courage and freedom that Novaya Gazeta has set and continues to set are a benchmark for us.