The Barents Observer 2025:
A year of censorship and repression. And victory against the Russian state
It was a year of a massive Russian clampdown on free speech. But we would like to start with the good news — and there are plenty of reasons for that. The Barents Observer won against Putin's regime in the European Court of Human Rights. We received the Sønsteby Prize and were nominated for several prestigious journalism awards.
The journalists at the Barents Observer spoke at international conferences and events, launched joint projects, and built editorial partnerships with other media. We published a great deal — and often wrote about repression.
But repression stopped being just a topic of our reporting. It became a reality for the newsroom itself and for our journalists.
Censorship and repression from Moscow are nothing new for the Barents Observer. Already in 2014, the FSB called on Norwegian officials to shut down the Barents Observer. In 2017, our Editor Thomas Nilsen was declared persona non grata in Russia for allegedly "posing a threat to national security." And in 2019, the censorship agency Roskomnadzor blocked the Barents Observer in Russia.
Nevertheless, the repressive machine came even closer to our small and far northern newsroom in 2025.
On February 7, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office declared the Barents Observer an 'undesirable organisation.' The decision was based on accusations that have become routine in today’s Putin-era Russia: “discrediting the army,” “promoting non-traditional values,” and, for some reason, “stimulating protest activity” in Russia’s northern regions. The decision was published the day after the Barents Observer won a case at the European Court of Human Rights, proving that the blocking of our website in Russia in 2019 was unlawful.
We challenged this decision in a Russian court, fully aware of how it was likely to end. The trial revealed the scale of the repressive machinery: against a small newsroom of six people based in northern Norway, the authorities mobilised the Prosecutor General’s Office, the FSB, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice. We lost the case — but gained documented evidence of how the Russian state wages war on independent journalism.
During the proceedings, we obtained access to 295 pages of court materials — correspondence between state bodies, internal memos, and letters from security agencies — showing that the decision to label the Barents Observer an “undesirable organisation” had been in preparation for years.
The “undesirable organisation” status effectively bans our work in Russia and creates a direct risk of criminal prosecution for Russian citizens who distribute our reporting or cooperate with us. Journalists Denis Zagore and Georgii Chentemirov were each fined 5,000 rubles (€55) by Russian courts for cooperating with an “undesirable organisation.” The next step for the authorities is criminal charges under these articles.
Repression affected not only the organisation, but each of our Russian journalists personally. By the end of 2025, not one of the Russian staff members at the Barents Observer was without the designation of “foreign agent.” This status was imposed on Georgii Chentemirov (March 2023), Olesia Krivtsova (August 2025), and Denis Zagore (October 2025).
The Ministry of Justice relied on the same set of accusations in each case: “spreading false information,” cooperating with an “undesirable organisation,” living abroad, participating in the work of other “foreign agents,” and opposing the war in Ukraine. None of these actions constitute a crime under Russian law or the Constitution. The “foreign agent” label is used as a repressive and discriminatory tool — stripping journalists of basic civil rights, restricting their professional activity, and paving the way for further criminal prosecution.
For alleged violations of the “foreign agent” legislation, courts issued administrative charges against two of our journalists — Olesia Krivtsova and Denis Zagore. The authorities accused them of failing to report themselves to the state prior to being added to the Ministry of Justice’s registry. The formulation sounds absurd — and it is absurd. Both journalists are appealing these decisions. Under Russian law, a person who suspects that he or she might meet the criteria of a “foreign agent” is required to submit an application to the Ministry of Justice themselves. Based on this application, the Ministry may include them in the registry.
In contemporary Russia, the “foreign agents” law has turned into a sprawling system of restrictions that makes normal life and professional work inside the country virtually impossible. The status strips individuals of political rights, bans participation in elections, teaching and educational activities, work with minors, cooperation with state bodies, and access to professions involving public expertise. Financial restrictions include mandatory use of special accounts — from which funds cannot actually be spent — and a punitive 30 percent tax on income.
In 2026, this repressive logic is set to expand even further. Authorities have announced the creation of a new public registry — a “list of persons subject to temporary restrictive measures.” It will include people who have left Russia and are accused of violating “foreign agent” requirements, cooperating with “undesirable organisations,” or committing politically motivated offenses. The measures include freezing bank accounts and property, bans on transactions, banking operations, access to public services, and consular assistance. The bill has already passed its first reading in parliament. We have no doubt that all Russian journalists at the Barents Observer will end up on this list.
Moscow makes ardent efforts to frighten the journalists and free voices that have left Russia. In late 2025, the FSB in Arkhangelsk reopened a criminal case against Olesia Krivtsova. The journalist, who fled house arrest in Severodvinsk with a police bracelet on her foot in early 2023, now faces a sentence of up to ten years in absentia for 'justifying terrorism' and 'discrediting the army.' The case is likely to be handled by a military court in St. Petersburg.
In the course of 2025, we won recognition for our independent reporting on a number of occasions.
In January, we were awarded the Sønsteby Prize along with NRK journalist Yama Wolasmal for our defence of democratic values. Several of our stories were listed for the Redkollegia Award, and a piece by Georgii Chentemirov and Denis Zagore about how the Russian language dictionary has been turned into a tool of propaganda was shortlisted for the Profession — Journalist Award.
The Barents Observer will not give in to pressure from Moscow. On the contrary, as we move into a new year, we feel emboldened and invigorated about our important work as independent journalists in the North.
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