Exiled Russian journalists are being left “high and dry” and at risk of being stranded overseas without any legal status after the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
The Guardian understands that some Russian journalists working for RFE/RL, which was founded during the cold war and broadcasts to countries including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, will face imminent problems over their legal status should the broadcaster shut down.
Many of RFE/RL’s Russian journalists operate from Prague, Riga and Vilnius, with their work visas often tied to their employment. Terminating the broadcaster’s funding would trigger visa expirations, leaving them without legal status within months.
Deportation to Russia for any of them would expose them to criminal prosecution. Alsu Kurmasheva, a longtime journalist for RFE/RL, was detained in Russia in 2023 and released last year as part of a prisoner swap.
“This lays out very starkly the kind of risks faced by Russian journalists who might be stranded without employment, left high and dry if they lose their livelihoods and the legal status that’s linked to their employment outside Russia,” said a person familiar with the situation, who wished to remain anonymous because of the risk of retaliation.
“This could have a very serious impact. There is no free media inside Russia. The media landscape would be all the more bleak.”
RFE/RL was set up with the aim of bringing unbiased local news to audiences behind the iron curtain, and has continued to cover subjects that are either ignored or downplayed by state media.
The media group suspended its operations in Russia in 2022 after it was pursued by local tax authorities, and police pressure on its journalists intensified. Its reporters are regarded as “foreign agents”, making them the target for arrest should they return to Russia. Last year, RFE/RL was designated an “undesirable organisation” by the Russian authorities, effectively banning it from working inside the country.
The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) announced over the weekend that it planned to stop grants to RFE/RL, as part of the Trump administration’s drive to slash government spending. Elon Musk, the tech billionaire empowered by President Trump to cut back the US federal government, previously described the media group as “just radical left crazy people talking to themselves”.
RFE/RL reaches about 10 million Russians every week, despite censorship by the state and bans on social media. Sources said that since the invasion of Ukraine, average monthly YouTube views of RFE’s Russian-language news content had increased from 20m to 77.6m, with a peak of more than 400m views when the invasion began. Its overall budget last year was $142m (£110m).
“If it can’t find funding soon, the company won’t be able to pay its staff and the consequence would potentially put a very large number of journalists who are exiled from authoritarian regimes at grave risk,” said a source.
“If funding is terminated, visas expire, and then journalists could be left without legal status, essentially being stranded. For Russians, it is even difficult to go to their embassies when their passports expire. Even seeking these basic consular services can be problematic and bring some risk. This could affect hundreds of journalists and their families.
“RFE/RL journalists are reaching a massive Russian-language audience. Without it, there would be that much less information available, and few alternatives to state-controlled media.”
The use of the media as an instrument of soft power by the west is in retreat more broadly. The Trump administration has also cut funding to Voice of America, which broadcasts news, information and cultural programming in nearly 50 languages to a global audience. Its journalists have been placed on “administrative leave with full pay and benefits until otherwise notified”. An internal memo stated that this was “not being done for any disciplinary purpose”.
Meanwhile, the BBC World Service has also been in retreat amid funding cuts, with concerns inside the corporation that further cuts could be made as part of a review of public spending to be unveiled in June. BBC bosses believe the current push by Russian and Chinese state media to reach global audiences means there is a stronger case than ever for an increase in public funding.
RFE/RL is now suing the USAGM in an attempt to block the termination of its funding. It is arguing that only Congress has power over federal spending. Its president, Stephen Capus, said this was “not the time to cede terrain to the propaganda and censorship of America’s adversaries”.
There is now a scramble within the European Union to put together alternative funding for the broadcaster, though senior figures have already doubted whether they can find the money to support its full operations. The Czech Republic is leading a push for an EU support package.
