Voice of Russia

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox radio network Template:Expand Russian Voice of Russia (Template:Langx), commonly abbreviated VOR, was the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service from 1993 until 2014, when it was reorganised as Radio Sputnik.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its interval signal was a chime version of 'Majestic' chorus from the Great Gate of Kiev portion of Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky.

History

Russian president Boris Yeltsin issued a decree on 22 December 1993 which reorganised Radio Moscow under a new name: Voice of Russia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 9 December 2013, Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a presidential decree dissolving the Voice of Russia as an agency, and merging it with RIA Novosti to form the Rossiya Segodnya international news agency.<ref name=liquidation>Template:Cite news</ref>

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya, said in March 2014 that "We will stop using obsolete radio broadcasting models, when the signal is transmitted without any control and when it is impossible to calculate who listens to it and where."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Voice of Russia ceased shortwave and European mediumwave radio broadcasts on 1 April 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Unreliable source</ref> The service continued to be available worldwide via the internet, in selected regions on satellite, and in several cities on FM, AM (in North America) or local digital radio.

By 2013, the Voice of Russia had been broadcasting in 38 languages, including:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col