Voice of America management has decided to resume broadcasting in Ukrainian and to bring back some of the Ukrainian service staff, Ukrainian VoA branch director Ruslan Petrychka reported in a Facebook post.
According to him, the newsroom’s journalists are already preparing to go back on air.
“I was glad to learn of the Voice of America management’s decision to resume broadcasting in Ukrainian and to bring some of the Ukrainian service staff back to work. My colleagues are already preparing to resume broadcasts next week. I hope that even more of our staff goes back to work soon,” Ruslan Petrychka said.
He stressed the importance of this step in view of Russia’s mass attacks and disinformation campaigns targeting Ukraine.
“This is a very important decision! Especially now, when Russia is cynically shelling Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities every day, killing civilians, and continuing to target Ukraine in large-scale propaganda and disinformation campaigns. The restoration of the Ukrainian service confirms that broadcasting in Ukrainian is strategically important for Voice of America to fulfill its mission and serve US interests. And it’s good for Ukraine,” the media professional said.
At the same time, he added that while formally he remains director of the Ukrainian newsroom, he is still on administrative leave, and so cannot comment on the details of the decision. For any organisational questions, Petrychka advised reaching out directly to the Voice of America management through official channels.
Previously
On 14 March 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order downsizing several federal agencies, including USAGM, the parent organisation to Voice of America, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, and other state-funded international broadcasters.
It was later reported that the Congress-approved grant funding Radio Liberty’s operations had been discontinued. Voice of America staff were sent on administrative leave, and broadcasting was suspended for the first time since the outlet’s founding in 1942.
On 28 March 2025, US Federal District Judge Paul Engelmayer ordered Donald Trump’s administration to temporarily halt the process of shutting down Voice of America.
In April 2025, Washington District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the US president’s administration to restore the operations of Voice of America and its affiliated broadcasters, which it had decided to shut down. This meant reinstating all Voice of America employees who had been dismissed or placed on leave on 14 March, and restoring the outlet’s funding from USAGM.
Following this, “Voice of America” resumed broadcasting in four languages: Farsi, Pashto, Dari, and Mandarin. The outlet had previously produced content in 49 languages.
In May 2025, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit suspended a ruling that had overturned Donald Trump’s executive order to shut down Voice of America. However, in January 2026 lawmakers from both parties and houses of US Congress agreed to provide about $653 million to fund USAGM, Voice of America’s parent agency.
In March 2026, US District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Kari Lake’s leadership of the USAGM violated federal law, invalidating a series of actions she took during the previous year, including cutting over a thousand journalists and employees at USAGM and Voice of America.
The same month, a US court ruled that the wind-down of operations at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, VOA’s parent, is unlawful and ordered the agency to bring more than 1,000 employees back to work.