Russias leading independent newspaper suspended operations Monday after pressure from Russian authorities, a move that comes less than six months after its editor won the Nobel Peace Prize for his papers courageous reporting under difficult circumstances.

The paper, Novaya Gazeta, said it will remain closed for the duration of what the newspaper referred to in quotations as the special operation in Ukraine, the term that Russian authorities insist media must use.

The newspaper was the last major independent media outlet critical of President Vladimir Putins government after others either shut their doors or had their websites blocked since Russias invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24.

The trigger for the shutdown was a second formal warning from the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor, which has increasingly taken on the role of a censor in recent years, Novaya Gazeta had long had a difficult relationship with the government.

Novaya Gazetas longtime editor Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa, a journalist from the Philippines, in October. Muratov said last week he was donating his Nobel medal to be auctioned off to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees and called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine.