Radio Free Europe says US cut off its Russian broadcast
Prague, Czech Republic (AFP) April 3 - The head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said on Thursday that the US government had switched off a satellite that transmitted its Russian-language programme into Russia.
Prague-based RFE/RL, founded during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda and funded by the US, has been at odds with the new administration of US President Donald Trump, which decided in mid-March to freeze its funding, amid a drive to slash the size of the federal government.
FILE - This photo taken on March 18, 2025 shows the logo on the facade of the headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL) in Prague, Czech Republic. Donald Trump's administration put journalists at several US-funded broadcasters, including Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL), on leave on March 15, 2025 as it froze funding to them. Founded by the United States during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda, RFE/RL was banned across the communist bloc including former Czechoslovakia, where regimes regularly jammed its signal. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)
RFE/RL challenged the decision in court and won a temporary restraining order, but the US Agency for Global Media, the US government agency that oversees its operations, has not yet released the funding.
"We came into work today and saw that satellite services that reach into Russia had been turned off by USAGM," RFE/RL chief executive Stephen Capus told AFP.
The decision affects the round-the-clock Russian-language "Current Time" television broadcasting to Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, eastern Europe and other regions.
"USAGM notified RFE/RL that satellite contracts carrying Current Time to Europe were terminated," Capus added.
USAGM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FILE - This photo taken on March 18, 2025 shows the headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL) in Prague, Czech Republic. Donald Trump's administration put journalists at several US-funded broadcasters, including Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL), on leave on March 15, 2025 as it froze funding to them. Founded by the United States during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda, RFE/RL was banned across the communist bloc including former Czechoslovakia, where regimes regularly jammed its signal. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)
Capus said that the radio's Russian clients were now getting a red TV screen with a sign: "We regret to inform you that US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has decided to terminate the distribution of Current Time."
RFE/RL currently reaches almost 50 million people in countries with authoritarian regimes including Belarus, China, Iran or Russia, seeking to counter the official propaganda.
Capus said the radio had other means of reaching the Russian audience.
"But... this wasn't the Russian government taking such an action. This was ordered by the USAGM," he said.
RFE/RL sent many staff on reduced-pay leave on Monday as it waited for the USAGM to disburse $77 million the radio needs to keep running until October.
Capus said Trump -- at odds with media he finds disloyal since his first term -- was seeking to close down RFE/RL and other outlets affected by the freeze.
"I don't think there's any question that the Trump administration would like to see us shut down. I think that's pretty clear," Capus said.
The funding freeze came as Trump is pushing for warmer ties with Moscow, reaching out to President Vladimir Putin and holding talks with Russian officials in a bid to broker a ceasefire in the Ukraine war that Moscow launched in February 2022.
