MOSCOW: Two radio news services funded by the US government that broadcast across Russia and were often critical of the Kremlin have been largely taken off the air.

The number of Russian radio stations that broadcast the news content of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Liberty has fallen from from 72 to nine since September. The American stations have attributed the move to pressure exerted on their Russian partners through checks on broadcasting licences.

VOA and Radio Liberty, also known as Radio Free Europe, can avoid the self-censorship and state loyalty that blights much of Russia’s media. They have been persistently critical of the purported “roll-back of democracy” ushered in by the administration of President Vladimir Putin.

The news is an awkward reminder of the administration’s crackdown on the media and comes days before Mr Putin hosts his G8 colleagues for a summit in St Petersburg. The US and the EU have criticised the lengthy media crackdown in Russia.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service