Russia shuts down last independent newspaper

Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s last independent newspaper and one of its most well-known, announced on Friday that it was shutting down for good.

Novaya Gazeta was founded in 1993, with former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev using the money from his Nobel Peace Prize to help set it up. In the over 30 years since, it has become a staple of independent Russian journalism, constantly at odds with authorities and frequently weathering censorship and harassment. On Friday, Editor-in-Chief Sergei Sokolov announced that the newspaper would be shutting down for good due to pressure from authorities, dramatically beginning his statement with, “We were killed.”