As the Putin government further escalates its suppression of free voices, newspaper Novaya Gazeta, radio station Echo of Moscow and Rain TV try to find ways to continue their work.

"The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on." Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, reinterprets this saying: In his view, the "barking” dogs represent independent media as an antidote to the tyranny of the governmental caravan. Muratov asks: "Is it possible to continue working under military censorship?”

This film accompanies Russian journalists in their fight for freedom of the press. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the teams at Novaya Gazeta, Echo of Moscow and Rain TV have been opposing state propaganda, even as free speech and independent journalism are rapidly being suppressed.

Roskomnadzor — the federal agency responsible for monitoring the media — has issued an order that the media should only use official Russian sources. It also banned people from calling "the special operation in Ukraine” an attack, an invasion or a war. Soon thereafter, Russian parliament adopted a law imposing heavy prison sentences for "spreading false information” about the Russian military in Ukraine.

Of Caravan and the Dogs takes us behind the scenes at Novaya Gazeta, Echo of Moscow and Rain TV. These committed and courageous journalists live with the tension between their conscience and their safety. We also follow the fate of Memorial, the NGO that documents atrocities commitred during Stalin’s reign. A shutdown looms over all of them. Will they be able to go on? 

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