The RFE/RL headquarters in Prague, Czechia, 27 March 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK
The United States has switched off satellites transmitting Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to Russia and Ukraine, Stephen Capus, the broadcaster’s president and CEO, told AFP on Thursday.
“We came to work today and saw that satellite services covering Russia had been shut down by the US Agency for Global Media,” Capus said. The discontinuation affects RFE/RL’s 24-hour Russian-language Current Time TV channel, which is broadcast to Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and other regions.
Capus said that while RFE/RL’s radio service would still reach its audience, Russian viewers of Current Time now saw a blank screen with the inscription: “We regret to inform you that the United States Agency for Global Media has decided to stop broadcasting Current Time.”
The move signals the Trump administration’s renewed determination to discontinue RFE/RL’s activities. On 16 March, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) terminated the federal grant that had funded RFE/RL and Voice of America (VOA) for 80 years, with both broadcasters placing their staff on paid leave shortly after the announcement.
Three days later, RFE/RL filed a lawsuit challenging the funding cut, with the court granting a temporary funding extension, which USAGM said it would observe. However, RFE/RL is yet to receive the funding, and in the face of ongoing financial uncertainty, announced that it had been forced to place many of its staff on reduced-pay leave on Tuesday.
RFE/RL broadcasts news to almost 50 million people, with services operating in 27 languages across 23 different countries, including Belarus, China, Iran, and Russia. It has 350 full-time staff and over 1,000 journalists providing additional reporting and support, with Russia representing its largest audience.
