Russian independent news outlet Svobodnye Novosti shuts down after 13 years amid pressure from federal censor

After months of government pressure, the Saratov-based media project Svobodnye Novosti (“Free News”) announced last week that it had shut down. “Saying goodbye is incredibly difficult and painful. We lasted almost 13 years. For an independent media outlet in Russia, that's a long time. Thank you for being with us. Thank you to everyone who entrusted us with their stories and their time to read, watch, comment, and share,” the outlet wrote in a farewell message on social media. 

In April 2024, Russia’s federal media regulator blocked Svobodnye Novosti’s website at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office “for allegedly repeatedly distributing information that violates Russian law.” Several months later, Russia’s Supreme Court revoked Svobodnye Novosti’s media license on the grounds that the publication mentioned former Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov and economist Andrey Illarionov in a report without indicating their status as “foreign agents.”

The following year, in March 2025, Svobodnye Novosti migrated its website to a new domain. However, federal officials later blocked access to this address as well, citing the Prosecutor General’s allegations from April 2024.

In January 2024, Svobodnye Novosti was the first news outlet to publish the Russian Supreme Court’s decision banning the so-called “international LGBT movement.” According to Mediazona, journalists obtained the verdict from documents in a related administrative case.