Reorganization of “Radio Liberty” in Russia

News:

On May 1, 2026, RFE/RL will merge the operations of the Russian Service (Radio Svoboda), Current Time, Tatar-Bashkir Service (Radio Azatliq), and North Caucasus Service (Marsho Radio) into a single multiple-media programming unit for audiences in Russia. All four service brand names will remain in use, reflecting the dedicated followings they have built among their audiences over many years. Programming in the Russian, Tatar, Bashkir, and Chechen languages will continue.

RFE/RL journalism reaches 8.7% of the adult Russian population – or 10.1 million people – every week, according to a 2023 national survey of Russian adults. Ekho Kavkaza, the Russian-language unit of RFE/RL’s Georgian Service targeting audiences in occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia, will close on May 1. The Georgian Service will continue to program in Georgian; the new Russia programming unit will cover newsworthy events in these occupied regions for Russian-language audiences.

Comments:

Recall that on March 31, 2026, RFE/RL closed its Bulgarian, Romanian, and North Macedonia services, as well as Radio Mashaal, its Pashto-language service for Pakistan’s tribal regions.

RFE/RL is funded by the U.S. Congress through a federal grant from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Congress appropriated a budget of $112.5 million for RFE/RL in fiscal year 2026. For comparison, $150 million was allocated in 2025.

Obviously, the allocation of enormous budgets for pro-American propaganda in Muslim regions indicates that, for the United States, there are no unimportant regions— they seek to control everything everywhere and maintain levers of influence in every region, even the most insignificant ones.