Due to financial challenges, the Ukrainian editorial office of Radio Liberty reported that it is cutting back on broadcasting.
The last episode of the "Liberty.Morning" stream aired on April 11. The stream was broadcast for over two years on the Radio Liberty YouTube channel, as well as on the Espresso TV channel.
Starting April 14, the editorial office will send employees in Kyiv and Lviv to temporary work.
"This is a forced step at a time when Radio Liberty is fighting for the right to receive funding from the US Congress in American courts. Before that, some employees in Prague from various language services went on partially paid leave from April 1," said the director of the Ukrainian editorial office Mariana Drach.
Due to limited funds, Radio Liberty has also significantly reduced its cooperation with freelancers.
In March, Radio Liberty suspended the podcasts “Dialogues with Portnikov” and “Historical Liberty”, featuring freelance writers Vitaliy Portnikov and Dmytro Shurkhalo. Shortly thereafter, historian Dmytro Shurkhalo contacted the Ukrainian Army’s Recruiting Center and mobilized.
What preceded
On March 14, the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reduce the activities of seven government agencies, including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). It oversees foreign broadcasting and oversees, among others, the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. This was followed by an announcement that the US Congress approved a grant that funds the activities of these media outlets.
A few days later, Radio Liberty informed that the US had stopped funding the media outlet. The broadcaster filed a lawsuit.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.