RFE/RL’s comprehensive coverage of Russia’s aggression – USAGM

Ukraine: RFE/RL’s comprehensive coverage of Russia’s aggression

February 18, 2022

Washington, D.C. — With more than 150,000 Russian soldiers and sailors now surrounding Ukraine on three sides, and Belarusian and Russian forces carrying out large-scale military maneuvers less than 100 miles from Ukraine’s capital, the danger of full-scale war remains high. RFE/RL offers comprehensive around-the-clock reporting to audiences in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and in English to audiences around the world.

RFE/RL is uniquely positioned to cover and analyze events as they unfold, with four news services – its Ukrainian, Belarus, and Russian services and the Current Time digital network – fully focused on the crisis. As tensions mount, with a surge in shelling and leaders of the Kremlin-backed separatists that control parts of Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk announcing the evacuation of residents to the southeast of Russia, RFE/RL will be reporting from the line of contact in Donbas and from Russia’s Rostov region.

Stories to follow

• In a February 8 interview, leading Russian military expert Pavel Felgengauer observed that the military would be fully prepared for action that week, and the Kremlin’s decision to start an invasion would come in three days, on February 11 – which turned out to be the day that Western countries sounded the alarm to begin evacuations of diplomatic personnel.

• Reporters also traveled to Ukraine’s eastern border to meet with elite Ukrainian soldiers defending the line of contact and visit an isolated Ukrainian village on the border, as well as the city of Mariupol, 20 miles from the line of contact, to gauge the mood of locals about the threat of invasion.

Newsmaker and expert interviews

RFE/RL interviewed Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.K., Vadym Prystayko, who walked back controversial comments that Ukraine could give up its NATO ambitions, as well as Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte and British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons, who questioned whether Russia’s top officials entirely understand the costs of a potential military invasion, both in terms of loss of life and the economic consequences.

What’s Ahead: On February 19, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service will air an exclusive interview with Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces Serhiy Sobko. The Russian Service will publish an interview with the Hoover Institution’s Michael Bernstam on the potential for economic sanctions to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine as well as analysis of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Russia strategy. RFE/RL will also be providing in-depth live coverage of the Munich Security Conference.

RFE/RL’s News Services

RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with a monthly average of over 8 million visits and 11 million page views to its websites as well as nearly 600 million video views on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram in 2021, sets a standard in the Ukrainian media market for independence, professionalism, and innovation. Its comprehensive coverage includes the award-winning reporting of its Donbas Realities and Crimea Realities websites and “Schemes” investigative reporting team.

Labeled an “extremist organization” by the Belarus government, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service provides independent news and analysis to Belarusian audiences in their own language, relying on social media platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as mirror sites and an updated news app to circumvent pervasive Internet blockages and access disruptions.

RFE/RL’s Russian Service is a multiplatform alternative to Russian state-controlled media, providing audiences in the Russian Federation with informed and accurate news, analysis, and opinion. Despite being labeled by the Russian government as a “foreign agent,” The Russian Service’s websites, including its regional reporting units Siberia.Realities and Northern.Realities, earned a monthly average of 12.7 million visits and 20.6 million page views in 2021, while 297 million Russian Service videos were viewed on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Current Time is a 24/7 Russian-language digital and TV network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. In addition to reporting uncensored news, it is the largest provider of independent, Russian-language films to its audiences. Despite rising pressure on Current Time from the Russian government, which has labeled the network a media “foreign agent,” Current Time videos were viewed over 1.3 billion times on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram/IGTV in FY2021.

About RFE/RL

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach influential audiences in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through USAGM.

RFE/RL’s Current Time Russian-language TV celebrates five years—despite incessant Kremlin attacks – USAGM

RFE/RL’s Current Time Russian-language TV celebrates five years—despite incessant Kremlin attacks

February 8, 2022

Washington, D.C. — Since its formal launch as a 24/7 TV channel on February 7, 2017, Current Time’s mission has been to bring real news to Russian-speaking audiences everywhere. Five years on, Current Time has established itself as a popular alternative to Kremlin-sponsored media, despite near-constant harassment of the channel and its journalists by Russian authorities.

Said RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly, “Current Time was established to reach Russian-speaking audiences seeking honest news and information and unfortunately, as the Kremlin attempts to censor information, the need for Current Time is greater than ever. RFE/RL looks forward to many more years of growth and engagement with Current Time’s audiences in Russia and around the world.”

Pavel Butorin, director of Current Time since 2018, stressed the channel’s role in providing balanced reporting of issues that matter to its audiences. Said Butorin, “We don’t tell our audience what to think. Instead, we engage all sides of a debate and give voice to those who are too often silenced or ignored by authorities or government-friendly media.”

Current Time has been under attack from the Kremlin since the channel began. Current Time was designated as a foreign agent in December 2017, less than one year after its formal launch, and two Current Time journalists have been named as individual “foreign agents.” Current Time was forced to move production of some of its programs outside of Russia after authorities threatened to shut down RFE/RL’s Moscow bureau over RFE/RL’s unwillingness to submit to unjust labeling requirements in May 2021. This past weekend the Kremlin threatened to ban Current Time’s website and those of seven other RFE/RL services if they did not immediately remove content related to high-profile investigations by opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny that involve Russian President Vladimir Putin, former President Dmitry Medvedev, and other prominent Russian politicians.

“The Kremlin doesn’t own the Russian language,” said RFE/RL Editor in Chief Daisy Sindelar, who served as Current Time’s director when it first launched. “Current Time stands shoulder-to-shoulder with its audience and shows life as it is, not as politicians and autocrats claim it to be.”

While Current Time launched its 24/7 TV channel five years ago, the network’s roots reach back to August 2014 and the debut of the currenttime.tv website, soon followed by its YouTube and Facebook channels and, in October 2014, the launch of its first, 30-minute news program. In addition to reporting uncensored news and debunking disinformation through its Smotri v Oba (“Footage vs. Footage”) program, Current Time is the largest provider of independent, Russian-language films to its audiences. A sampling of Current Time’s best content can be found on the channel’s English portal.

The Current Time digital and TV network is produced by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America. In September 2021, the network’s measured weekly audience was 8.5 million, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year. Current Time also currently reaches 7 million followers across social media platforms, a 35 percent jump up over September 2020.. Between October 2020 and September 2021, Current Time videos were viewed more than 1.3 billion times on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

About RFE/RL

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach influential audiences in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through USAGM.

RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi marks two decades of service – USAGM

RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi marks two decades of service

January 31, 2022

Washington, D.C./Prague — Twenty years ago, on January 30, 2002, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Radio Azadi relaunched broadcasting to Afghanistan in the Dari and Pashto languages. RFE/RL’s broadcasts resumed less than five months after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. and nearly a decade after the Dari and Pashto services were closed down in 1993 as part of an overall restructuring of RFE/RL operations following the end of the Cold War. Despite last year’s withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and return of the Taliban to power, Radio Azadi continues to serve the Afghan people as a trusted and reliable source of news, analysis, and responsible discussion – on radio and, especially, on digital platforms.

Radio Azadi’s reporting on politics, extremism, corruption, culture, and minority issues under-reported by other media, as well as its programs aimed at women and the country’s near-majority youth population, have consistently made it one of the country’s most popular and trusted media outlets. According to a December 2019 USAGM survey, 47 percent of adults in Afghanistan listen to Radio Azadi every week. Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Azadi has focused on how radically life has changed for ordinary Afghans, particularly women and ethnic and religious minorities. Radio Azadi’s call-in shows and roundtables also continue to give a platform for ordinary Afghans to talk about their experiences under Taliban rule.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly congratulated Radio Azadi on the milestone. “Since its relaunch, Radio Azadi has been a trusted friend and partner to the Afghan people, in good times and bad. Today, when so many of the achievements of the past twenty years are at risk, RFE/RL is committed to maintaining Radio Azadi as the place where Afghanistan’s voiceless can be heard, and the country’s new rulers can be held accountable for their actions.”

Radio Azadi marked its anniversary by posting a special video report looking back at its twenty years of operation, a photo gallery of its journalists on assignment over the years and a video of colleagues sharing their experiences and memories of working at Radio Azadi. It also hosted a call-in show during which many listeners expressed their gratitude to Radio Azadi and spoke about the impact of Azadi on their lives. A second call-in show on January 31 focused on the impact of Radio Azadi on Afghan women’s lives. RFE/RL has also released brief interviews with Radio Azadi journalists, including Qadir Habib, Mustafa Sarwar, and Malali Bashir.

Throughout Radio Azadi’s twenty years in Afghanistan, its journalists have endured death threats and other forms of harassment from Taliban and Islamic State forces – trends that intensified prior to the Taliban takeover. The service has lost four colleagues in the past four years – Maharram Durrani, Abadullah Hananzai, and Sabawoon Kakar, who were killed along with at least 22 others on April 30, 2018 in a coordinated bomb attack in Kabul, and respected Helmand correspondent Mohammad Ilyas Dayee, who died in a targeted car bombing that also injured his younger brother.

The changing reality of producing journalism in Afghanistan forced RFE/RL to take dramatic steps to protect its staff, including the closure of its Kabul bureau, and evacuation of threatened local journalists from the country. Many former Radio Azadi staff remain in Afghanistan, ineligible for refugee status under U.S. government or international resettlement programs. Their situation remains highly tenuous.

About RFE/RL

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach influential audiences in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through USAGM.

Lithuania, Latvia welcome RFE/RL’s Jamie Fly— and “Mr. Landsbergis” – USAGM

Lithuania, Latvia welcome RFE/RL’s Jamie Fly— and “Mr. Landsbergis”

January 14, 2022

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — As political turmoil and targeted intimidation campaigns continue to impact RFE/RL’s journalists and their ability to operate in the wider region, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President Jamie Fly visited Lithuania and Latvia this week-–two countries that have for decades been enthusiastic consumers of RFE/RL programming. In both countries, Fly thanked officials for their support for the work of RFE/RL and its journalists and emphasized the vital role of free and independent media during his meetings with them and with local journalists and activists.

In Lithuania, Fly met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Arnoldas Pranckevicius, Speaker of the Seimas (parliament) Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, and Seimas member Zygimantas Pavilionis, as well as senior officials and advisors at the Office of the Government and the Office of the President. He also met with former Lithuanian foreign and defense minister Linas Linkevicius, and Belarus’ exiled democratic leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

In Latvia, Fly had meetings with advisors to the Prime Minister, President, and Ministry of Defense, Rihards Kols, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima (parliament); and Latvia‘s National Electronic Mass Media Council. He also met with representatives of Latvian civil society working to counter disinformation.

During his meetings, Fly described the difficult conditions under which RFE/RL journalists have been operating and stressed the important role that RFE/RL’s journalism plays in supporting democracy across the wider region. He highlighted the urgent need to defend and model media freedom, as regional governments seek to suppress it and continue to target journalists, who are simply seeking to report the facts as they unfold. Interlocutors expressed their strong support for RFE/RL’s work and explored opportunities for further cooperation.

Fly also attended the Lithuanian premiere of Mr. Landsbergis, a documentary about Lithuania’s struggle to restore its independence. The film, which was commissioned by RFE/RL’s Current Time digital network, won the Best Film award at the 34th annual International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in November 2021. Speaking at the event, which marked the 31st anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Vilnius, Fly congratulated director Sergei Loznitsa for his vision and his determination to bring the story to the attention of the world, noting the relevance of the film’s message as Russia and China today threaten democracies and attempt to distort the past.

About RFE/RL

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — reach influential audiences in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through USAGM.