Putin can no longer claim victory in Ukraine, Nobel Peace Prize winner tells BBC

At the Moscow offices of newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the corridors are silent.

"There is no newspaper anymore," former chief editor Dmitry Muratov tells me.

Mr Muratov co-founded Novaya Gazeta more than thirty years ago. It became the flagship for hard-hitting independent journalism in Russia, shining a light on human rights abuses and high-level corruption.

In 2021 Mr Muratov was joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts "to safeguard freedom of expression." The Nobel Committee noted that "six of [Novaya Gazeta's] journalists have been killed, including Anna Politkovskaya who wrote revealing articles on the war in Chechnya."

"Putin issued a decree and the newspaper's printing presses were nationalised," Mr Muratov explains. "Its registration was revoked."

Novaya Gazeta does retain a presence online. But only just: the authorities have blocked access to its website. It can only be accessed from abroad, or with the help of VPNs – virtual private networks used to circumvent restrictions.

The newspaper's difficulties reflect the broader crackdown on free speech in Russia which has accelerated since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"Most opinion leaders have been declared 'foreign agents', 'extremists' or 'terrorists'. Several hundred," says Dmitry Muratov.