Editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov held a final planning meeting before the departure, attended by former editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov and newsroom staff, SOTAvision reported.
After the meeting, journalists took down from the walls the portraits of six colleagues who were killed: department editor Igor Domnikov, deputy editor-in-chief Yuri Shchekochikhin, columnist Anna Politkovskaya, lawyer Stanislav Markelov, freelance correspondent Anastasia Baburova and human rights activist Natalya Estemirova. The video was published by Ostorozhno, Novosti.
Dozens of people came to say goodbye to the newsroom, including journalists from other outlets, among them CNN and Reuters. The DDT song "Eto vsyo" was played outside the building. Those gathered saw the staff off with applause and shouts of "thank you," RusNews reported.
A flower was left on Novaya Gazeta's sign, and bouquets were brought to the memorial to Anna Politkovskaya. Later a new sign was hung over the old one reading: "Novaya Gazeta lived here."
"We are not saying goodbye. We will definitely come up with something. Because Novaya Gazeta is not pages, not a website. It is an idea. An idea, a purpose in life for those who work here. And that cannot be killed," Sokolov said. According to him, the outlet's Telegram channel will operate until midnight, and the final piece has already been released on its YouTube channel.
The Kremlin reacted differently to the closure. Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to Vladimir Putin, called what was happening "a routine rotation process." He said it would be wrong to speak of the end of an era of independent Russian media.
Novaya Gazeta announced its closure in late October after more than 30 years of operation. According to The Economist, the decision was made after traces of hacking were found in the office and amid fears over a possible "extremist" designation.