PRAGUE: 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.

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 said. 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.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2025