Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta to close

Newspaper whose former editor won Nobel peace prize says pressure from Russian authorities has forced it to shut

The Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta announced on Friday that it was closing, citing pressure from authorities who recently searched the home of its senior editor and earlier this year detained one of its journalists.

“Novaya Gazeta is ceasing to exist,” the editor-in-chief, Sergei Sokolov, said in a video statement published on YouTube. “The Russian authorities – the Russian special services – have forced the editorial team to end its work.”