Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s leading independent newspaper whose chief editor last year was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was stripped of its media licence today.
The Basmanny district court in Moscow said it had invalidated the newspaper’s license at the request of the country’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor.
Rozkomnadzor had accused the publication of failing to provide documents related to a change of ownership in 2006. Novaya Gazeta’s lawyers insist that the changes did not require presenting the charter to the authorities.
The ruling was “a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis”, editor-in-chief and Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov, said outside court today.
Novaya Gazeta suspended operations in late March after being forced to remove material from its website on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The court verdict in effect bans the outlet from operating. Rozkomnadzor is also seeking to shut down Novaya Gazeta’s website and a print magazine that it launched in July. Two court hearings are scheduled for later this month.
Today’s ruling comes less than a week after the death of the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who helped in the founding of Novaya Gazeta in the early 1990s. Muratov led the procession at Gorbachev’s Moscow funeral on Saturday.
Six of Novaya Gazeta’s reporters have been killed in assassinations that the newspaper and human rights groups say were connected with their work, including top investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya.
Hello everyone. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong, taking over the blog from Tobi Thomas to bring you all the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Here’s a quick roundup of what’s been happening so far.
The Kremlin has said they think there is little hope of anything positive in diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia from the next British prime minister. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also warned that Moscow would take “retaliatory measures” over a G7 proposal to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil.
Despite the Russian military’s efforts to contain the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south, it is focused on conquering the Donbas region, according to the latest update from the UK ministry of defence. Russia’s main “axes of advance remain at Avdiivka near Donetsk City and, 60km to the north, around Bakhmut”, the MoD said.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state enterprise operating all four nuclear power stations in the country, has said that four of the six IAEA mission members at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have left its territory. The remaining two still stay on a permanent basis, it said.
European gas prices rocketed as much as 30% on Monday after Russia said one of its main gas supply pipelines to Europe would stay shut indefinitely. The move has stoked renewed fears about shortages and gas rationing in the EU this winter.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government had planned a total halt in gas deliveries in December, promising measures to lower prices and tie social benefits to inflation. “Russia is no longer a reliable energy partner,” Scholz told a news conference in Berlin. Liz Truss, who is likely to be confirmed as the UK’s new prime minister on Tuesday, will be under pressure to follow suit in helping people with energy bills.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, warned Europe to expect a difficult winter after the pipeline shutdown. “Russia is preparing a decisive energy blow on all Europeans for this winter,” he said in his evening address on Sunday.
Ukraine has made progress in its recently launched counter-offensive with its forces taking two settlements in the south, a third in the east, as well as additional territory in the east of the country, Zelenskiy added. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, posted an image of soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over a village he said was in Ukraine’s south.
The Kremlin has warned also warned that it would take “retaliatory measures” over a G7 proposal to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil.
A group of seven finance ministers agreed the cap on Friday in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, but Moscow has vowed to halt sales to countries imposing it.