I meant to stay for two days, but on the third day we couldn\u2019t get out because there was active combat on the road we\u2019d been planning to take. The next day, we tried getting out on a different road. We went through two checkpoints but at the third one they told us that if they let us through, troops at the next checkpoint would gun us down. They said there were orders to shoot at all oncoming cars. We turned around and tried going through a neighbouring village instead, but locals told us that there were landmines up ahead. We tried yet another route. At a certain point, we were forced to go around a checkpoint because soldiers refused to let us through. We thought they might shoot at us from behind, but they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
From Kherson, I headed to Mariupol. As I was travelling, I suddenly started getting texts from colleagues from other publications with messages like, \u201cWe feel for you, but hang in there. Everything\u2019s going to be ok, don\u2019t be scared.\u201d That\u2019s how I found out Novaya Gazeta was stopping publication, at least until the war was over.<\/p>\n
I was deeply shaken. That might sound strange, considering everything that had happened over the years. Six journalists had been killed, four of them during my tenure. Our deputy editor had been abducted and severed sheep heads left in front of our offices. There were constant attacks on our journalists, and we prevented many more by getting people out of the country or hiding them. The government was always trying to shut us down or have us declared foreign agents. We had survived it all. I thought that even though they\u2019d shut down everyone else, we would prevail.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Journalism in Russia: assassinations, severed sheep heads and death threats #PressFreedom<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/JbYVPDGepv<\/a><\/p>\n — The Economist (@TheEconomist) May 3, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n