After losing six journalists to murder over its 35-year history, one of Russia’s most prominent independent newspapers is preparing to shut down, with its editor blaming the country’s security services for making continued operations impossible.

Novaya Gazeta, known for investigations into corruption and abuses of power, announced on Friday that it would close its operations on November 9, ending a decades-long presence in Russian journalism.

“Novaya Gazeta has been killed,” Editor-in-Chief Sergei Sokolov said in a video statement, accusing the Russian security services of forcing the editorial team to stop working.

The newspaper said it had exhausted its ability to operate after losing access to its office, its readers’ donation platform and other resources needed to sustain its work.

“We have been stripped of all our resources. Entirely,” the publication said in a statement.

The closure marks another setback for independent journalism in Russia, where authorities have tightened restrictions on media organisations and journalists, particularly since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Novaya Gazeta initially suspended its print and online publications in Russia after receiving a warning from the country’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor. The move followed an interview involving former editor Dmitry Muratov and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The newspaper had built its reputation through investigations into corruption, human rights abuses and misconduct within Russian state institutions. Six of its journalists were murdered during its existence, including prominent reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead outside her Moscow apartment in 2006.

Muratov, who shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Philippine journalist Maria Ressa for their efforts to defend freedom of expression, was also targeted in an attack in April 2022. He was sprayed with red paint mixed with acetone while travelling by train, an incident that the newspaper said nearly cost him his sight.

Russian authorities later designated Muratov and Novaya Gazeta as “foreign agents”, a classification that carries legal and administrative restrictions and is widely used against individuals and organisations considered to have foreign links.

The pressure has extended to the newspaper’s remaining journalists. Investigative reporter Oleg Roldugin was arrested earlier this year over allegations of unlawful access to computer information, while Sokolov was detained for questioning and his home searched in connection with the case.

The newspaper’s website was also blocked in Russia and its publishing licence revoked.

Speaking to CNN, Sokolov said the closure reflected a wider deterioration of the country’s information environment, arguing that Russians were increasingly denied access to independent accounts of events around them.

“The information space in Russia has disappeared,” he said, adding that available news was increasingly shaped by propaganda and narratives favourable to the ruling elite.

Novaya Gazeta was founded in the early 1990s, with support from former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and became a major platform for investigative journalism under Muratov’s editorship.

Although an offshoot, Novaya Gazeta Europe, operates from Riga, Latvia, the parent publication said it could no longer continue under its existing name and structure in Russia.

The newspaper said it would publish one final edition before suspending operations and considering its next steps.

The development was reported by CNN, which quoted Sokolov and the newspaper’s statement on the decision to close.