Russian courts have levied fines of more than $2.3 million this year against the Moscow bureau of the U.S.-funded international broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for failing to label all of its content as the work of “foreign agents.”
The Kremlin’s campaign against RFE/RL has prompted U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to release a statement on Twitter expressing “concern over Russia’s efforts to close Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and silence this valued source of independent reporting.”
What is the future of this venerable institution? And what does the Kremlin’s war on RFE/RL tell us about the state of Russia’s domestic politics and the escalating tension between Moscow and the West?
On this week’s Power Vertical Podcast, host Brian Whitmore talks to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s President Jamie Fly and Regional Director for Europe Kiryl Sukhotski about the assault on RFE/RL in the context of the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent.