VOA helped to end the Cold War. It was still fighting Russian disinformation when it was silenced

Since President Donald Trump issued his March 14 executive order to begin dismantling Voice of America, its Russian-language broadcasts have gone dark.

Before Trump’s order, VOA’s Russian Service was producing 13.5 hours of audio and video reports each week, regularly reaching 4.8 million people in Russia, or 4% of the adult population, despite tight government restrictions against independent media. It was also delivering news to Russian-speaking populations throughout Eurasia and around the world. Now, it has stopped all broadcasts and is producing no content on digital media.

VOA’s unbiased, fact-based reporting is widely credited with helping to end the Cold War. “Among the forces that tore holes in the Iron Curtain was the steady bombardment by the Voice of America [and] Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty,” said Strobe Talbott, who served as President Bill Clinton’s deputy secretary of state.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s consolidation of power, along with his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, VOA was again at the forefront of spreading truth throughout Eastern Europe and routinely piercing the Kremlin’s “digital Iron Curtain.”

Trump’s mid-March executive order, which largely silenced the international broadcaster, has been met with criticism. “Many of the American and foreign reporters who have squared off against the world’s most brutal dictatorships for VOA and other U.S.-funded outlets every day have performed heroically,” wrote the senior editorial staff of the National Review magazine on March 20. “Unlike the propagandists who work for Beijing or Moscow, employees of Voice of America and USAGM grantees are real journalists who do real reporting, often at great risk to themselves and their families,” they said.

The VOA Russian Service provided around-the-clock, live-streamed coverage of historic events, including live-streamed Russian language coverage of historic events, including Trump’s acceptance speech on Election Night 2024, garnered millions of views on YouTube; Trump’s February Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also viewed by millions. Seconds after Russia released high-profile political prisoners — including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva — VOA’s Ksenia Turkova and Roman Mamonov hosted marathon Russian-language streaming coverage that featured guest interviews and insights by prominent American officials and experts alongside footage of the prisoners’ arrivals in Germany.

The high-quality, fact-based reporting by VOA’s Russian Service is emblematic of the agency’s broader mission to battle authoritarianism and deliver truthful information in 49 languages daily. Russian media officials cheered the news of VOA’s silencing, underscoring how repressive governments view the efforts to stop VOA’s broadcasts as a win.

In its effort to disseminate credible news, VOA’s Russian Service has in recent years significantly expanded its digital footprint — launching websites, mobile apps, podcast platforms and social media channels. It has also improved the use of circumvention tools to ensure its audience has access to VOA’s journalism despite Russia’s increased censorship.

Moscow has spent decades growing its government-controlled media empire. Funding for Kremlin-financed, and Kremlin-directed propaganda, which is just one part of Russia’s global disinformation campaigns, is slated to grow further in 2026, according to preliminary budget figures. Some estimates put funding at record highs.