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Working For Novaya Gazeta Puts Its Journalists In The Crosshairs

Russia’s Novaya gazeta is best known for its investigative reports on corruption and rights abuses. In a country ranked as one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists, its reporting has earned international accolades but has also put its reporters in considerable danger.

Six of the publication's journalists and contributors have been killed since 2000 and others attacked.

Dmitry Muratov, who helped found the newspaper in 1993 and has long served as its editor in chief, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 8, 2021, along with Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa.

Despite the killings and threats, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Muratov “has refused to abandon the newspaper’s independent policy" and has “consistently defended the right of journalists to write anything they want about whatever they want, as long as they comply with the professional and ethical standards of journalism."
In July 2000, Novaya gazeta editor Igor Domnikov died months after being attacked in the entrance to his Moscow apartment building by an assailant who struck him on the head repeatedly with a heavy object. Domnikov covered culture and education issues. His colleagues say his killer may have mistaken him for another Novaya gazeta reporter who had been threatened after investigating corruption in the oil industry. The two reporters lived in the same building.
1 In July 2000, Novaya gazeta editor Igor Domnikov died months after being attacked in the entrance to his Moscow apartment building by an assailant who struck him on the head repeatedly with a heavy object.

Domnikov covered culture and education issues. His colleagues say his killer may have mistaken him for another Novaya gazeta reporter who had been threatened after investigating corruption in the oil industry. The two reporters lived in the same building.
Novaya gazeta editor Yuri Shchekochikhin died in 2003 of a mysterious illness that was widely suspected to be the result of radioactive poisoning. He had been investigating the possible involvement of the Russian security services in a series of apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities in 1999.
2 Novaya gazeta editor Yuri Shchekochikhin died in 2003 of a mysterious illness that was widely suspected to be the result of radioactive poisoning. He had been investigating the possible involvement of the Russian security services in a series of apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities in 1999.
Novaya gazeta investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow on October 7, 2006. She was a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin whose reporting exposed high-level corruption in Russia and rights abuses in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya. (ITAR-TASS)
3 Novaya gazeta investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment block in central Moscow on October 7, 2006. She was a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin whose reporting exposed high-level corruption in Russia and rights abuses in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya. (ITAR-TASS)
Novaya gazeta reporter Anastasia Baburova (left) and Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov were both shot and killed in January 2009 as they left a news conference in Moscow. Markelov and Baburova had exposed some of the most notorious cases of abuses by the Russian Army in Chechnya.
4 Novaya gazeta reporter Anastasia Baburova (left) and Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov were both shot and killed in January 2009 as they left a news conference in Moscow.

Markelov and Baburova had exposed some of the most notorious cases of abuses by the Russian Army in Chechnya.
Award-winning journalist and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, a frequent contributor to Novaya gazeta, was abducted in Grozny in July 2009 and found shot dead hours later. At the time, she was said to have been working on "extremely sensitive" cases of human rights abuses in Chechnya.
5 Award-winning journalist and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, a frequent contributor to Novaya gazeta, was abducted in Grozny in July 2009 and found shot dead hours later. At the time, she was said to have been working on "extremely sensitive" cases of human rights abuses in Chechnya.
The home and car of correspondent Yulia Latynina were sprinkled with unknown chemicals in 2017. That same year, the newspaper received a letter with an unknown white powder inside, which later was shown to be harmless.
6 The home and car of correspondent Yulia Latynina were sprinkled with unknown chemicals in 2017. That same year, the newspaper received a letter with an unknown white powder inside, which later was shown to be harmless.
In October 2018, unknown people brought three cages with sheep wearing vests with the inscription PRESS on them near the offices of Novaya gazeta in Moscow.
7 In October 2018, unknown people brought three cages with sheep wearing vests with the inscription PRESS on them near the offices of Novaya gazeta in Moscow.
A sheep's head was also found near the office with a note threatening all reporters at the newspaper.
8 A sheep's head was also found near the office with a note threatening all reporters at the newspaper.
In October 2018, unknown individuals threw a funeral wreath in front of the newspaper’s building with notes threatening correspondent Denis Korotkov. A funeral wreath was also sent to the journalist's home with a note calling him “a traitor." Korotkov had just published an article quoting a purported security aide of Kremlin friendly Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin as saying that Prigozhin was involved in several attacks against his opponents, including at least one killing. Unknown persons also left a basket containing a severed ram's head and red carnations at the newspaper’s office with a note, saying, "To Novaya gazeta's chief editor with greetings to you and Korotkov."​
9 In October 2018, unknown individuals threw a funeral wreath in front of the newspaper’s building with notes threatening correspondent Denis Korotkov. A funeral wreath was also sent to the journalist's home with a note calling him “a traitor."

Korotkov had just published an article quoting a purported security aide of Kremlin friendly Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin as saying that Prigozhin was involved in several attacks against his opponents, including at least one killing.

Unknown persons also left a basket containing a severed ram's head and red carnations at the newspaper’s office with a note, saying, "To Novaya gazeta's chief editor with greetings to you and Korotkov."​
A security guard stands at the entrance to the Novaya gazeta offices in Moscow on March 15, 2021. The newspaper said a security camera had recorded an unknown person spraying the office entrance with an unknown liquid. A strong chemical odor swept through the building similar to that smelled in the attack against Latynina.
10 A security guard stands at the entrance to the Novaya gazeta offices in Moscow on March 15, 2021. The newspaper said a security camera had recorded an unknown person spraying the office entrance with an unknown liquid. A strong chemical odor swept through the building similar to that smelled in the attack against Latynina.
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