Moscow Times editor Derk Sauer says the newspaper will defy the Russian government’s mandate to close down and will continue to publish news.

Russia’s prosecutor general has banned anyone from working for or being associated with the “undesirable” organization on Russian soil, threatening criminal prosecution for violating this policy.

Regardless, Mr. Sauer affirmed Wednesday on X that the Moscow Times is and will remain a “training ground” for many journalists and will not shut down.

The Russian Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement Wednesday that the “work of the publication is aimed at discrediting the decisions of the leadership of the Russian Federation in both foreign and domestic policy.”

“Of course we will continue with our work: independent journalism. That is a crime in Putin’s Russia,” Mr. Sauer said.

The newspaper, headquartered in Amsterdam, says that Russia and Ukraine’s conflict has resulted in “subsequent passage of repressive wartime censorship laws,” which have forced the newsroom into exile.

The news outlet has repeatedly said that it will not back down or submit to Russia’s demands.

“We refuse to give in to the pressure. We refuse to be silenced,” the Moscow Times said. “We are counting on the support of all of you, our readers, to help us continue our work and defy the Kremlin.”

The Russian Prosecutor General’s office has not responded to the Sun’s initial requests seeking comment.

The Moscow Times started in 1992 in Russia, during the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse, with a mission to deliver news in both Russian and English.

Penalties for associating with an “undesirable” organization once can add up to $168, but a second offense may result in criminal charges and a sentence of up to four years behind bars. 

He added in an editor’s note that this act is the “latest of many efforts to suppress our reporting on the truth in Russia and its war in Ukraine, including blocking our website and naming us a ‘foreign agent.’”

The Prosecutor General’s office had previously requested that access to the organization be restricted on account of “systematic” misinformation concerning Russia’s efforts in the war against Ukraine.

The Moscow Times allegedly also associates on a regular basis with other organizations that the Russian government deems “undesirable,” the Prosecutor General’s office added.

Russian authorities have previously shut down over 140 other independent news outlets and international NGOs by slapping the “undesirable” label on them since 2015, such as the Insider and the Novaya Gazeta Europe.

Before 2024, the “undesirable” label was primarily used to outlaw religious organizations, but independent news outlets took the lead this year as the country’s most “undesirable” institutions, Medioza reported.

News outlets have not been previously prosecuted in Russia at this rate, with police reportedly filing more reports concerning people who are associated with these “undesirable” publications this year than the past three years combined.