Russia today added the distinguished journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov on its “foreign agent” list, a label authorities use to stifle criticism.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Muratov launched two editions of his newspaper, in Russian and Ukrainian, saying that his newspaper would defy the regulations restrictions of the Russian M.M.E., which report only the official information of the government about the war.

Russia’s Justice Ministry alleged that Muratov had “used foreign platforms to spread views aimed at shaping negative attitude towards the foreign and domestic policy of the Russian Federation”.

The Russian journalist shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Resa, journalist from the Philippines.

Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov is a TV presenter and politician, editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

Along with several other journalists, Muratov co-founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993. He was its editor-in-chief from 1995 to 2017 and again from 2019 to the present. The newspaper is known for its reporting on issues sensitive to Russia, such as government corruption and human rights violations.

During its editorship, Muratov published articles written by the later murdered Anna Politkovskaya, who criticized the rule of Vladimir Putin. With Novaya Gazeta, Muratov helped create “the only truly critical newspaper with nationwide appeal in today’s Russia,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

EPA – wikipedia