Several employees of the station left Russia, including deputy editor-in-chief Maxim Kournikov.
Berlin:
Going off-air shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow radio station’s liberal Echo has found a new home in Berlin from where the fight against President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda has resumed.
“Ekko Moskvy” radio, considered one of the last independent voices in Russia, in early March joined the ranks of media outlets forced to halt operations in the event of an unprecedented crackdown by the Kremlin over coverage of the war. .
Many of the station’s staff left Russia in the wake of the clampdown, including deputy editor-in-chief Maxim Kournikov, who was making a new life in the German capital with several former colleagues.
Others have left for Latvia, Lithuania and Georgia.
Despite being scattered across Europe, there was no question of Ukraine remaining silent on the conflict or events inside Russia.
Starting this month, Kournikov and his team have resumed their broadcasts on an app called “Echo.”
“It works like a radio,” Kournikov told AFP, claiming the app was fast becoming one of the top downloads in Russia.
The 38-year-old said Russian authorities tried to block the app after a few days, but their efforts were successfully thwarted.
The new outlet also brings content produced by former Moscow journalists on other platforms under one roof.
“We have connected all the YouTube channels of our team,” Kournikov said.
“Echo” aims to broadcast live 10 to 12 hours a day, filling in replays the rest of the time.
A website and two Telegram channels are also part of the project.
“We want to offer our audience a more complete picture of what’s happening in Russia,” Kournikov said.
He added that around 20 journalists are currently working with “Echo”, and about 10 more are expected to join in the near future.
The plan is for the majority of the “echo” team to eventually work out of Berlin, in offices and in studios paid for by charity.
Germany, which has already taken in nearly a million Ukrainian refugees, has become a popular destination for deported Russian dissidents.
The German government has vowed to ease visa rules for journalists and other Russians fleeing political persecution.
Russian voices
Berlin-based German writer Vladimir Kaminer, born in Moscow, was one of the driving forces behind the “echo” comeback. He has teamed up with Kournikov to bring the project to life.
“I thought it would be surprising for someone from Europe to address the Russians,” the 55-year-old said, condemning the “unspeakable state propaganda” that accompanied the February 24 invasion of Moscow.
There will also be insights from within Russia. The radio station’s veteran editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov – who has been with Moscow’s Echo since its founding in 1990 – remains in his home country and is part of the new project.
“That we still have voices inside Russia is the most important thing for us,” Kournikov said.
Kournikov has collaborated with Germany’s best-selling Bild newspaper to provide news and commentary on his TV station and on Russian-language social media channels.
return risk
Before the war, Russia still had a relatively diverse landscape in television, newspapers and online, even though the climate has become increasingly restrictive in recent years.
But tough new rules introduced after the February 24 operation – which made it illegal to call military action an “aggression” or broadcast “fake” news about it – have changed the scene, allowing state-controlled media to The airwaves have been allowed to dominate, and the message.
TV channel Ren (Dozhd) – like Moscow’s Echo considered a pillar of Russia’s independent media – has shut down, while access to pro-opposition news sites has been blocked.
The country’s foremost independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, whose editor-in-chief won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, has set up a newsroom in Riga after mounting pressure at home.
Kournikov himself has no plans to return to Russia.
He has publicly criticized Russia’s war, a crime that could carry a prison sentence.
As a reserve officer, Kournikov would also risk being mobilized to engage in the same war he is opposing.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)