{
  "id": 139,
  "slug": "2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license",
  "title": "Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license",
  "occurred_on": "2022-09-05",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "RU",
  "country": "RU",
  "continent": "europe",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
  "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
  "issue_of_the_day": "The suspension came about six months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during which several independent Russian outlets closed or moved abroad rather than operate under new wartime speech laws.",
  "outcome": "sustained",
  "outcome_on": "2022-09-05",
  "outcome_note": "The Basmanny District Court's suspension of the print license stood as of the ruling, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "A Moscow court suspended the print license of Novaya Gazeta, whose editor Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, after the media regulator Roskomnadzor said the paper had not provided documents about a 2006 change of ownership.{c:509}{c:510}{c:511}{c:572}",
  "what_happened": "On September 5, 2022, Moscow's Basmanny District Court suspended the print license of Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia's last major independent newspapers, at the request of Roskomnadzor, the state media regulator. Roskomnadzor alleged the paper had failed to provide documents relating to a change of ownership that had taken place in 2006, sixteen years earlier. Novaya Gazeta's editor, Dmitry Muratov, who had shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his work at the paper, called the suspension \"a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis.\" The newspaper itself said on social media that the authorities had effectively ended the publication and taken thirty years of its staff's work. The suspension followed Novaya Gazeta's earlier decision, days after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to pause its print and online publishing rather than operate under new laws criminalizing what the government called false information about the military.{c:509}{c:510}{c:511}{c:572}\n\nThe print license remained suspended as of the ruling; the source reviewed does not report a reversal.{c:509}{c:510}{c:511}{c:572}",
  "stated_justification": "Roskomnadzor alleged the newspaper \"failed to provide documents relating to a change of ownership in 2006.\"{c:509}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "One of Russia's last major independent newspapers lost its print license entirely, ending decades of publication under a legal pretext its editor said had no basis.{c:510}{c:511}",
  "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not explain why a 2006 ownership matter was raised only in 2022 or what documents Roskomnadzor said were missing.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:15:48Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 9,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:15:42Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:20:36Z",
  "stage": "silence",
  "ladder_note": "A national court ended a Nobel-recognized newspaper's print license outright over a sixteen-year-old paperwork dispute, not a temporary suspension or fine.",
  "country_name": "Russia",
  "tactics": [
    "outlet_licensing"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "vladimir-putin",
    "name": "Vladimir Putin",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:15:48Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not explain why a 2006 ownership matter was raised only in 2022 or what documents Roskomnadzor said were missing."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "dmitry-muratov",
      "name": "Dmitry Muratov",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/dmitry-muratov"
    },
    {
      "slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/vladimir-putin"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "novaya-gazeta",
      "name": "Novaya Gazeta",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/novaya-gazeta"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 509,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 139,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "2006 ownership documents cited",
      "statement": "Roskomnadzor's stated grounds were the newspaper's alleged failure to provide documents on a 2006 ownership change.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 344,
      "evidence_quote": "failed to provide documents relating to a change of ownership in 2006",
      "evidence_date": "2022-09-06",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:15:45Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 344,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "title": "Russian authorities suspend Novaya Gazeta's print license",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2022-09-06",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/509"
    },
    {
      "id": 510,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 139,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "editor calls it a political act",
      "statement": "Novaya Gazeta's editor, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said the suspension was a political act without legal basis.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 344,
      "evidence_quote": "a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis",
      "evidence_date": "2022-09-06",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:15:45Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 344,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "title": "Russian authorities suspend Novaya Gazeta's print license",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2022-09-06",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/510"
    },
    {
      "id": 511,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 139,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "newspaper's own statement",
      "statement": "Novaya Gazeta said the ruling had ended the newspaper and erased thirty years of its staff's work.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 344,
      "evidence_quote": "Today they killed the newspaper. Stole 30 years of life from its staff.",
      "evidence_date": "2022-09-06",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:15:46Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 344,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "title": "Russian authorities suspend Novaya Gazeta's print license",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2022-09-06",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/511"
    },
    {
      "id": 572,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 139,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "suspension, September 5, 2022",
      "statement": "Moscow's Basmanny District Court suspended Novaya Gazeta's print license at Roskomnadzor's request.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 344,
      "evidence_quote": "a Moscow court",
      "evidence_date": "2022-09-06",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:31:05Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 344,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
        "title": "Russian authorities suspend Novaya Gazeta's print license",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2022-09-06",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/572"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 344,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2022/09/russian-authorities-suspend-novaya-gazetas-print-license/",
      "title": "Russian authorities suspend Novaya Gazeta's print license",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2022-09-06",
      "link_state": "live",
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      "wayback_url": null,
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    },
    {
      "id": 419,
      "url": "https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/russian-court-revokes-newspaper-novaya-gazetas-license-2022-09-05/",
      "final_url": "https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/russian-court-revokes-newspaper-novaya-gazetas-license-2022-09-05/",
      "title": "Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia's last independent media, banned after court revokes licence",
      "publisher": "Reuters",
      "published_on": "2022-09-05",
      "link_state": "paywalled",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}