Novaya Gazeta will turn off its servers and leave its office on Moscow's Potapovsky Lane on 9 November, ending more than 30 years of work, the editorial staff said in a statement published on 30 October. The paper will publish one final issue.

The closure removes what The Economist called Russia's "last free newspaper." Novaya Gazeta had repeatedly exposed evidence of Russia's aggression against Ukraine: in 2015, it published a memo that, it said, apparently reached Putin's administration in February 2014 with a plan to annex Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and in 2017 it published a witness account backing the identification of a Russian colonel linked to the downing of MH17. Some 1,500 journalists have left Russia since the full-scale invasion, and over 100 independent media projects now work from exile, according to a CEPA report. Novaya Gazeta kept working in Moscow through the war, until pressure rose sharply this year and, the paper says, left it with no office and no money.

The eviction and the donations cut off together

The eviction became public on 29 October, when The Insider reported a letter to readers from editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov and journalist Irina Gordienko. The newsroom had worked in the Potapovsky Lane building for 29 years, according to The Insider, or 30, according to the paper. The letter said the paper had very little time to leave and had no new office. The reasons for the eviction and the position of the building's owner have not been made public.

According to the statement, the platform the paper used to collect reader donations was shut down at the same time as the eviction letter arrived. Banks cited internal corporate rules, but the editors called this a coordinated campaign and blamed the FSB, the Justice Ministry, and the Prosecutor's Office.

The museum of Anna Politkovskaya, set up in 2021 in her former office in the same building, will also close, according to The Insider. On 7 October, the 20th anniversary of her murder, the museum received the restored memorial plaque from the Moscow building where she was shot.

Murders, attacks, and a criminal case against an editor

The statement lists six colleagues killed for their work: Igor Domnikov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Stas Markelov, Anastasia Baburova, and Natalya Estemirova. It also recalls the attack on Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, who nearly lost his sight, and says no criminal case was opened. Columnist Elena Milashina was abducted and beaten in Chechnya in 2023.

Earlier this year, in April, security officers raided the newsroom for 13 hours, and Oleg Roldugin, whom the paper calls its managing editor, was detained in a criminal case over the alleged illegal use of personal data, The Insider reported. The paper says Roldugin was in effect taken hostage for working as a journalist and that his trial is coming. In mid-October, Sokolov's apartment was searched. In early September, the Justice Ministry added Novaya Gazeta to its "foreign agents" register, listing more than 100 journalists and contributors, according to the statement.

Nearly five years of shrinking room

Novaya Gazeta suspended publication in March 2022 after warnings from the media regulator Roskomnadzor. In September 2022, a Moscow court stripped the paper of its media license, Reuters reported. Then-editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov called the ruling "a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis."

Meanwhile, staff who left Russia launched Novaya Gazeta Europe in Riga, according to RFE/RL.

Euromaidan Press has drawn on Novaya Gazeta's reporting, including its interview with Oleg Sentsov, and marked Politkovskaya's legacy in 2019.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s government has advanced legislation replacing independent funding for Czech public broadcasters with state budget allocations, despite protests, warnings from European media organisations and concerns that the changes could expose journalists to political interference.

The Czech government has taken a further step towards fundamentally restructuring the country’s public broadcasting system, pushing controversial legislation through its first parliamentary reading after an extraordinary overnight session that triggered demonstrations and clashes with police in Prague.

In the early hours of Saturday, 24 October, the Chamber of Deputies advanced a government proposal abolishing licence fees for Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo), replacing them with direct financing from the state budget. Opposition attempts to reject the legislation or return it for revision failed.

The decision represents another stage in the confrontation between Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s governing coalition and organisations defending independent public broadcasting. Critics argue that the proposed financial arrangements could give successive governments greater leverage over the country’s principal public service media institutions.

Police intervene as protesters confront parliament

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside parliament on Prague’s Malostranské Square on Friday, protesting against the legislation and the government’s decision to accelerate its parliamentary consideration.

According to the Czech News Agency’s account of the demonstrations, several dozen protesters attempted to force their way into the parliamentary building. Officers from a special police unit prevented their entry.

Police spokeswoman Eva Kropáčová confirmed that the situation was brought under control without arrests. Demonstrators also confronted SPD parliamentarian Jaroslav Foldyna, requiring police intervention.

Inside parliament, the governing coalition of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists party imposed limits on parliamentary debate and scheduled the decisive vote for 4.36am.

Of the 177 MPs present, 81 supported rejecting the proposal. The opposition subsequently pledged to continue resisting the legislation during its remaining parliamentary stages.

Financial dependence and political influence

The central controversy concerns the proposed transfer of financial responsibility for public broadcasters from licence-fee payers to the state.

Under the government’s plan, Czech Television would receive approximately CZK 5.74 billion annually, while Czech Radio would receive CZK 2.07 billion.

Combined funding would amount to approximately CZK 7.8 billion, representing a reduction of around CZK 1.4 billion, or 15 per cent, compared with existing licence-fee revenues.

Culture Minister Oto Klempíř, who developed the proposal, maintains that budget financing is an established European model. The government argues that abolishing the combined CZK 205 monthly household charge would reduce costs for consumers without compromising editorial independence.

However, the dispute extends beyond the immediate financial reductions.

Under the existing system, licence fees provide broadcasters with revenue that is substantially separated from annual government spending decisions. Financing through the state budget introduces a different relationship between broadcasters and political authorities.

Even where allocations are established by legislation, future parliamentary majorities can amend the law governing those payments.

A particularly significant development emerged on Saturday when an examination of the government’s own legislative documentation showed that its regulatory impact assessment had identified direct budget financing as the riskiest funding option.

The accompanying documents explicitly acknowledge the possibility of increased dependence on the state and political pressure without adequate safeguards.

European organisations warn of consequences

The controversy has attracted criticism from international organisations responsible for defending independent journalism.

In a joint statement issued on 23 October, the European Broadcasting Union, Reporters Without Borders, International Press Institute and other organisations warned that the accelerated parliamentary process was incompatible with the thorough scrutiny required for such legislation.

They highlighted the proposed funding reductions and questioned whether the new arrangements would sufficiently protect the broadcasters’ operational and editorial independence.

Their objections have a specific legal foundation.

Article 5 of the European Media Freedom Act requires EU member states to provide public service broadcasters with adequate, sustainable and predictable financing, based on transparent and objective criteria.

Budget financing is not prohibited under EU legislation. However, financial arrangements must contain safeguards against political interference.

As EU Today previously examined, the European Media Freedom Act establishes legally binding obligations intended to prevent governments from undermining independent journalism through institutional or financial pressure.

The Czech proposal therefore raises questions about whether its safeguards and funding provisions satisfy those requirements.

Journalists prepare further industrial action

Employees of Czech Television and Czech Radio have announced a nationwide strike for Tuesday, 3 November, organised by the Veřejnoprávně initiative.

The industrial action follows an earlier warning strike in June, when journalists and other broadcasting employees protested against the government’s plans.

A further public demonstration is scheduled for Sunday, 25 October, in Prague’s Old Town Square.

The confrontation also reflects the broader political divisions that have emerged since Babiš returned to government in December 2025.

Opposition politicians have drawn comparisons with political intervention in public broadcasting elsewhere in Central Europe, particularly Hungary and Slovakia.

The government rejects accusations that it intends to nationalise public broadcasters or interfere with their editorial decisions.

For the moment, the legislation remains subject to parliamentary scrutiny and has not become law. Its passage would nevertheless change the financial relationship between the Czech state and two of the country’s most established news institutions.

The central question is whether future governments would acquire additional means of influencing broadcasters through their budgets, even without exercising direct control over individual editorial decisions.