The editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which was shut down in 2022, and the co-recipient of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, Dmitry Muratov, 61, has chosen to remain in Russia, while part of his team has gone into exile in Riga, where the Novaya Gazeta Europe is now published. He gave an interview to Le Monde and Swiss daily Le Temps in Geneva, where he was a guest of the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation, the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Geneva Graduate Institute. He has slimmed down a lot: "I've stopped drinking vodka," he explained, "and I won't start again until the war is over. When the war is over, you'll see me as I was before, I promise." He also publishes a new magazine, Gorby, with a print run of 999 copies, so as not to break the 1,000 mark, at which point registration as a medium becomes compulsory.

Maybe you're right... and maybe you're wrong. It's very strange to live in one's homeland without freedom, but it's just as strange to conceive of freedom without one's homeland. The journalists who have left are doing a remarkable job, without censorship, they are fulfilling their mission. Those who stayed have stayed with their readers, and for readers, it's important to have among them people they've been reading for a long time.

You have to respect the people who stayed and understand those who left. For us, it's very complicated. Half the editorial team works in Europe and the other half in Russia. Half of our colleagues are on one planet and the other half on another. It's a tear that's hard to explain.

This separation is a personal tragedy. We don't know if we'll ever be able to meet up again. For the journalists who have left, the tragedy is not knowing when – or if – they will return to their country. For those who stayed behind, the tragedy is not knowing if they will be able to leave and return. Many of our colleagues who have left have been labeled "undesirable elements," "foreign agents" and even "extremists." Many have left their parents, family and friends, but returning is impossible because they risk being arrested.

My foreign agent number is 665: I'm enemy of the people number 665. It's a good thing I'm not number 666 – cursed number! You can imagine how many there are before me. Only fools think this status brings any merit. It's a real stigma and a heavy one to bear.

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