Russian revolution

A newspaper launched 28 years ago by a group of young journalists led by Dmitry Muratov remains the flag-bearer of independent journalism in Russia

- AJISH P. JOY

On October 16 and 17, 2018, investigative journalist Denis Korotkov of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper received two unusual parcels. The first was a funeral wreath with a note attached, calling him a traitor to his country. What followed was even more bizarre—a basket with a severed goat’s head and a bunch of red carnations.

Korotkov was working on a story about the criminal enterprises of Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin. Said to be the man behind the shadowy mercenary force called the Wagner group, Prigozhin is on the FBI’s most-wanted list. The Novaya Gazeta published the story five days later.

It is this fearlessness that defines the Novaya Gazeta and its editor-in-chief Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov, who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, along with fellow journalist from the Philippines, Maria Ressa. But it has not been an easy journey for him. Muratov, 59, has lost more journalists to murder than any other Russian editor. Six of his journalists and collaborators have been killed in the line of duty. Muratov keeps their black and white portraits in the newspaper’s office, perhaps as a stark reminder of how dangerous journalism can be.