RFE/RL Ukraine editorial office cutting broadcasts, places employees on leave amid 'financial challenges'
The editorial office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Ukraine announced on April 11 that it was reducing its broadcasts and placing a number of it employees on leave as the U.S. government-funded media organization continues to endure “financial challenges” amid the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate grant funding.
RFE/RL Ukraine announced that it had ended its popular Freedom.Morning daily broadcast as a means to save costs, while also sending an unspecified number of employees in its Kyiv and Lviv offices on leave.
“This is a forced step at a time when Radio Liberty is fighting for the right to receive funding from the U.S. Congress in American courts,” Mariana Drach, director of the Ukrainian editorial office said. “Ahead of this, some employees in Prague from various language services went on partially paid leave from April 1."
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the government agency overseeing RFE/RL, to be dismantled, while cutting grant funding to the organization.
Following a court challenge, a U.S. District Court granted RFE/RL a temporary restraining order, blocking what the court deemed an unlawful attempt by USAGM to cut congressionally appropriated funds.
USAGM reversed its decision to terminate grant funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for the fiscal year 2025, RFE/RL reported on March 27. Despite the reversal, financial challenges continue to persist as future funding for the media organization remains in limbo.
RFE/RL was founded early in the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda in Eastern Bloc countries. It has since continued providing coverage of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and countries in Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and elsewhere.
The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat