The first program of the radio station “Liberation” was broadcast from a studio in Munich on March 1, 1953. In 1959 the radio changed its name. During the Cold War, Radio Liberty provided the public in the USSR with facts from Soviet history and contemporary reality that were hidden from the public and not covered by the official media, as well as information about the activities of individuals and groups. organizations that opposed communist regimes. and the repression of dissidents by the authorities. Many representatives of unofficial Soviet culture and prominent figures of Russian emigration spoke at the microphone of the Russian Service. Publishers strictly adhere to the principles of freedom of the press even now.
The Soviet authorities stopped jamming the airwaves of the radio station in 1989. In 1991, after the failed GKChP putsch, Russian President Boris Yeltsin legalized the activities of Radio Liberty in Moscow by his decree. The headquarters of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty media company moved to Prague in 1995 at the invitation of Czech President Václav Havel.
During the years when Vladimir Putin was in power, the editors of the Russian Service faced progressively increasing problems. In 2017, Radio Liberty was placed on the list of “foreign agents” by the Russian Ministry of Justice, in spring 2022 under pressure from the Russian authorities The Moscow office of “Freedom” was closed . After the start of a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of military censorship in Russia, Russian service websites and accounts on many social networks were blocked by Roskomnadzor. Nevertheless, 2022 has become the historically most successful year in editorial history: Svoboda’s websites recorded more than 161 million visits, and the Russian service’s channels on YouTube video hosting more than 105 million views. monthly. The weekly audience of “Freedom” is more than 8 million people.
“For seven decades, Radio Liberty has served as a torch that shows the people of the country a way out of the darkness of information,” RFE/RL chairman Jamie Fly said on the anniversary. of the Russian service. this edition, perhaps the last few years have become the brightest, “when our society came under unprecedented pressure from the Kremlin. And over the past year, despite Vladimir Putin’s attempts to prevent the Russians to know the truth, Svoboda journalists have continued their bold work in the interest of the public.This essential activity will continue.
Radio Liberty Russian Service, one of the market leaders of independent Russian media, is a modern journalistic organization operating on many platforms. On three editorial sites – Svoboda.org , Sibreal.org , Sevreal.org – Operational information is published, reports on the places of events in Russia and abroad, analytical reviews, interviews with journalists and experts. freedom is still broadcasts 24 hours a day Internet and satellite radio (you can also listen to us from 9 p.m. to midnight on medium wave ), product daily and weekly video programs social video and reportage, popular podcasts , documentaries . We are actively working on accounts on all major social networks.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is an independent American media company funded by a congressional grant through the United States Agency for Global Media. Radio Liberty operates in 27 languages in 23 countries, primarily for audiences in countries where media freedom is restricted. More than twenty employees of the Russian service of Radio Liberty are listed by the Russian authorities as “foreign agents” on an individual basis. Unfounded persecution of “Svoboda” and its journalists continue. Despite this, our correspondents continue to work in Russia.
