It was the most prestigious publication of the independent press in Russia. It was founded in 1994 with the help of the deceased. Mikhail Gorbachev‘Nóvaya Gazeta’, which dedicates its Nobel Prize money to buying computers for its journalists, has become a leading news source thanks to its detailed research on sensitive topics such as corruption and even the Kremlin’s relations with terrorist organizations. Between 2000 and 2021, six of its journalists were killed for work reasons. Anna Politkovskaya He was shot and killed in the elevator of his home in October 2006. Now, most of their correspondents, headed by former editor-in-chief Kirill Martynov, have gone into exile in Latvia and set up ‘Nóvaya Gazeta Europa’ where they intended. To continue his work, which is considered both outside and inside Russia.
In Russia, print free is no more Will you continue your studies?
We are lucky compared to other media. We don’t have an owner and they couldn’t bankrupt us like the only independent radio station, Echo of Moscow. We worked in Russia as long as possible. Towards the end of our existence in Russia, we had a record number of readers between two and four million each week. The last working day in Moscow was March 28. It was already dangerous to continue. Because of the new information law, anyone connected with ‘Nóvaya Gazeta’, even an accountant, can be persecuted if you tell them what’s going on on the front. We came to the closest point of Russia, Latvia. We left more than 40 journalists. And here we record the name ‘Novaya Gazeta Europa’. We started posting on Telegram on April 7th. And now we want to return to our Russian audience. We also have a different task than we have had so far: to make the voice of pro-European Russia heard in Europe.
How do you plan to finance your project?
Initially, JX Fund, a German organization, helped us with tickets and rentals in Riga. Its founders belong to the German branch Reporters Without Borders. We feel a lot of professional solidarity from our European colleagues. Now we have launched a campaign to raise money between the Russians who have fled and want an independent press on the one hand, and the Europeans who know what ‘Novaya Gazeta’ is and what it means on the other. We translate our texts into English and plan to use other languages. In this way, we cover the costs. It was unthinkable to have 54 journalists on the payroll in May. But we have a good reputation thanks to what ‘Novaya Gazeta’ has done during its 30 years of existence in Russia.
How do you plan to reach the Russian audience and circumvent censorship?
We lost a significant part of our audience because we couldn’t use our old places on the internet. ‘Novaya Gazeta Europa’ is a new publication that has no ties to ‘Novaya Gazeta’ except for its journalists. There are two uncensored places on the internet. The first is Telegram, where we quickly regained 150,000 subscribers. The Kremlin does not censor Telegram for using it to spread its propaganda. Our second platform is YouTube. We have 50,000 subscribers there, a growing number. And then we have the VPN, because within nine days of our new page coming out, it was blocked in Russia. Regaining our audience will not be as fast as we worked in Russia, but we are determined to do so.
Will they continue to publish research from Russia? It looks dangerous…
Yes, it is the most dangerous part of the job. All those working inside Russia are like partisan journalists working as volunteers, without accreditation. His name must be kept secret. We are between 15 and 20.
Is Putin and the war as popular as the polls say?
Talking about public opinion is a very difficult question in Russia because of our history and peculiarities. Putin is the driving force of this imperialist feeling in Russian society that the world does not respect us. It should also be noted that, according to all experts, since the end of the Soviet era, Russian society has been extremely depoliticized, the main idea of Russian life is the possibility of each individual to live quietly, and no sacrifice has been spared. . In this context, the Russians, not because they support the war – there is not a huge mass of people who want to go to the front to die – but as long as it does not affect the country there is a feeling. Citizen, it is better to look the other way. The average citizen thinks he cannot influence the state. And he suddenly wakes up in a situation where a war lasting more than half a year has begun that puts his and his family’s future in jeopardy. In this case, it is easier to believe the propaganda than to consider other options, not only to avoid problems, but also to think that life is still normal or that normality will soon return.
Do you think Putin can use atomic weapons?
This regime has shown its willingness to resort to blackmail, gas or nuclear, including what might happen at the Zaporizhia power plant. Another thing is what the Kremlin will achieve with it, because it would have gone too far. If a nuclear attack occurs, Russia’s neighboring countries will ask NATO to activate Article 5, pulling the country further down from this deadlock.
Are there internal problems in the Kremlin?
There is a strange situation. They need to find someone to blame because the war isn’t going according to plan. But Putin’s regime is based on the motto that those appointed by the president should not be punished. The secret services know that in Stalin’s time they started by killing their enemies and eventually became enemies themselves. Putin does not want to repeat this. Still, there may be those who think that in the case of a completely dysfunctional government, the best solution to their problems is Putin’s departure.