Novaya Gazeta, Russia's Last Independent News Outlet, Shuts Down

Last week after the "blue tsunami" midterm election here in the United States, a lot of people were suggesting that fascism is being defeated. 

Prematurely, I feel.

Trump remains president, and he can still do a lot of damage.

Also, there are people suggesting that with other elections in countries where longstanding strongmen were defeated (such as in Hungry, in Slovakia, and in Brazil), that now it was down to just a few rogue leaders. One of those included Putin in Russia, of course.

But Putin does not appear to be going anywhere. Much like with Trump, I have heard many people talking about how Putin is weakening and his downfall is imminent and inevitable.

Yet he is still in control in Russia. And frankly, there are few signs that I can see (admittedly, from the outside) that Putin is in any real danger whatsoever. In fact, it still seems like the remnants of democracy is what is in real danger in Russia.

Here is the latest example of this reality. Novaya Gazeta, one of the last really independent news sources in Putin's Russia, has been forced to close it's doors permanently. 

It was labeled a "foreign agent" by Moscow, and thus essentially forced to close it's doors.

Let's not fall into the admittedly tempting trap of celebrating the end of fascism in this world, or even here in the United States. I know a lot of people would love to see all of this over already. But the world remains a very difficult and dangerous place. 

And Trump and Putin and - at least for now - Netanyahu are all still in power. That hardly feels like an encouraging sign that fascism actually is on the run just yet. 

Gazeta closes citing gov’t clampdown The paper was one of the few remaining outlets in Russia that criticised Moscow’s war on Ukraine. By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters Published On 9 Nov 2026 9 Nov 2026

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/russian-investigative-newspaper-novaya-gazeta-closes-citing-govt-clampdown

Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta closes citing gov’t clampdown | Censorship News | Al Jazeera

Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta ceases operations, closes Moscow office Licensable picture: Monday, 9th November 2026, 10:28 AM GMT-5  ANADOLU AGENCY

https://www.reutersconnect.com/item/russian-newspaper-novaya-gazeta-ceases-operations-closes-moscow-office/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjY6bmV3c21sX01UMUFOQURMMDAwNUdHN1JY

Licensable picture: Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta ceases operations, closes Moscow office | Reuters Connect