The Ministry of Justice of Russia has decided this Friday to incorporate the independent Russian newspaper 'Novaya Gazeta', created in April 1993 with the economic support of the last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, into its official register of "foreign agents".
"Novaya Gazeta has disseminated false information about decisions and policies of Russian public authorities, as well as about the electoral system of the Federation. It has opposed the special military operation in Ukraine, has participated in the dissemination of messages and materials from foreign agents to the general public, and collaborates with foreign agents," it stated in a statement.
In the same update of the list, the authorities have also included the scientist and television presenter Sergei Leibgrad, the editor Felix Sandalov, the renowned computational biologist and mathematician Tatiana Tatarinova, and the magazine 'Historical Expertise'.
This move comes after Novaya Gazeta --whose editor-in-chief, Dmitri Muratov, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 along with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa for their work in favor of freedom of expression-- suspended its publications in March 2022 following official warnings for not being listed in the register of foreign agents.
Later, part of the editorial team launched a new project based in Europe. In 2023, the authorities classified the activities of Novaya Gazeta Europe as undesirable in Russian territory and, that same year, also included Muratov in the list of foreign agents, which led to Sergei Sokolov taking over the direction of the newspaper.