Due to the cessation of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), independent media in Ukraine and Russia have lost an important source of funding. This was reported by The Washington Post .
"Independent media in Russia and Ukraine criticized their governments and provided alternative information, but most of them relied on grants," the publication said. - (After USAID freezing), some organizations have stated that they are only a few weeks from the reduction of staff or full closure. ”
It is indicated that many of these organizations in Ukraine barely ends with the ends after a full -scale invasion of Russia three years ago, which led to a sharp fall in revenue from advertising and forced them to turn to foreign aid programs to stay afloat.
According to Detector Media, Natalia Ligacheva, "more than 50 percent" of media organizations that receive foreign grants depend on US assistance.
“I can say that this is really important not only for Ukraine but also for the United States. Because it is independent media that ensure, first and foremost, the existence of democracy and pluralism in Ukraine ... We hope that Trump will restore international support programs because it fights with a bloated state apparatus and does not squeeze free media, ”she said.
Earlier, Detector Media was warned that there is a risk of "losing the achievements of three decades of work and increasing the threats of Ukraine's statehood, democratic values and pro -Western orientation."
The possible reduction of staff in connection with these events was stated by Ukrainian investigative journalist Denis Bigus. According to him, USAID grants are funded by "about two -thirds" of their organizations.
Many Russian organizations and media are in exile as the main source of funding, WP writes. It is emphasized that most of the grants come from Washington "as part of efforts to ensure that alternative coverage of the war against Ukraine and political events in Russia has reached Russian audience."
“It seems that this story has affected the lion's share of Russian media and public projects,” wrote Russian opposition activist Andriy Pivovarov. - Some are rolling programs. Outline offline. In the near future, this will lead not only to the cancellation of measures, but also to the closure of a number of projects. "
According to him, in the Russian Federation everyone discusses the effects of frost of financing, but almost no one talks openly.
Trump requires eliminating USAID
The day before, US President Donald Trump said USAID needs to be liquidated. According to him, corruption in this agency "reached an unprecedented level", and some of the finances are allegedly spent fraudulent:
“USAID drives radical left -handed, and they cannot do anything because the way they spend money are spent, and much of them is fraudulent. Corruption has reached unprecedented levels. Close it! ”.
Before that, Reuters, citing its sources, wrote that the Trump administration plans to reduce USAID ten times - retaining less than 300 employees with more than 10,000 worldwide.
