MT's Founder Reflects on 2 Years of Working in Exile

Exactly two years ago The Moscow Times was forced to leave Russia and move to Amsterdam, after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine. This is the first of three letters in a series where we discuss how the past two years have affected us as journalists and as people.

Letter by Derk Sauer,
Founder

MT's founder Derk Sauer before giving a speech at The Moscow Times' event in Amsterdam

about the two-year anniversary of the war, Feb. 6

Dear readers,

Two years ago, Putin introduced draconian legislation banning any form of independent journalism about his invasion of Ukraine. In our Moscow newsroom, we faced the tough choice to either close shop or go into exile. Refusing to be silenced, we relocated outside Russia. For my Russian colleagues, this was not only a professional choice. It meant leaving partners, children and loved ones behind. At the time, we hoped our return to Moscow would be a matter of months.

Two years later, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. And now that we have been labeled "foreign agents," we cannot return to Russia even if we wished to. From our newsroom in Amsterdam, we are fighting on to bring independent news on Russia both to our international audience and to a fast-growing audience inside Russia with our Russian-language service.

Of course it is difficult to keep our spirits up as Putin is bombarding Ukraine and prosecuting and killing Russia’s best and brightest while the West wavers in its support for Kyiv. Dark times are still ahead — but it’s so important to keep the flame of independent Russian journalism burning.

With our business model broken, we rely on your support — so please take the time to send us a monthly donation.

This war is not only being fought on the battlefield. We need Russian independent journalism to stop Putin's ugly propaganda machine.

Thank you for your continued support of quality, independent journalism.