Iryna Romaliyska, Ukrainian journalist and host at the Butusov+ channel on YouTube, has shared details of her dismissal from the international TV channel Current Time/Nastoyaschee Vremya (a Radio Liberty / Voice of America project) in April 2026. She alleged that the decision to dismiss her had been related to the changes in editorial policy, the channel’s Russia-centric vector, and her prolonged conflict with management over coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Iryna Romaliyska wrote this in a Facebook post and shared the details in comments to IMI journalist Valentyna Troyan.
Romaliyska had worked at Current Time since 2014. She had started out as a correspondent in Kyiv, and had worked at Radio Liberty’s central office in Prague starting in 2018, hosting the news and current affairs programme Vecher.
The journalist says that the channel’s editorial focus has shifted over time. In her view, a reshuffle in the management has led the channel to becoming more “Russia-centric.”
Romaliyska noted that the internal conflict within the newsroom, between so-called “good Russians” and staff from other countries, grew especially acute with the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Romaliyska reports shrinking coverage of the war
She said that the channel’s staff had increasingly been told to cut back on war-related material in broadcasts in recent years. Instead, the outlet pushed stories about the suffering of “ordinary Russians”: for instance, due to the rising theatre ticket prices or the cost of ice cream going up in Moscow.
“Successful projects that talked a lot about the war got cut (such as Utro) or cancelled entirely (Vecher). And I can’t explain that with any other logic, because those were the two projects that had the highest viewership. Instead, Russian programmes were added to the schedule. Sometimes segments would air that could easily be mistaken for Russian propaganda,” the journalist said.
Iryna Romaliyska added that a form of “Russian cronyism” had taken hold at the channel, valued above professionalism, and noted a management loyalism and a lack of professionalism within the team.
On the dismissal
Romaliyska said that her public and internal conflict with the channel’s management had lasted about three years. Her health had deteriorated from the continuous stress.
“With a heap of my own personal tragedies, investigations into me, occasional bullying, and diagnosed PTSD and depression. In the end, I believe management took advantage of the opportunity official layoffs presented, and I was laid off,” Romaliyska wrote.
She added that the channel’s top leadership consisted entirely of Russians and that the newsroom’s outlook has become “completely set in stone.” She added that the last person from the Russian service who had publicly voiced disagreement also left after her dismissal from the channel.
“So it’s really not an international channel at all anymore. And now the head, Andrei Sharyi, calls it ‘one big Russian team’ at general meetings. In the middle of a major war where people are fighting for the right not to be ‘one big Russian team.’ And they aren’t just saying that in front of Ukrainians. They are also saying that in front of people from other countries, parts of which are still occupied by Russia, or have been occupied in the past,” Romaliyska said.
Despite this, the journalist stressed that many professionals and decent people from various countries (including Russia) still remain at Current Time, continuing to fight for the media outlet. Romaliyska thanked her colleagues for their work together and said she was proud of the projects they had managed to bring to life together.
Romaliyska on her colleagues’ reaction
In comments to IMI, the journalist explained that she had decided to speak out about the details of her dismissal because it was important to her that people understand that the international channel was no longer what it once had been.
“Given that the channel still speaks in Ukraine, is still ‘on the button.’ But I’m seeing a trend there towards soft Russian propaganda. Which is dangerous. And on top of that, with this post I answered a lot of questions I’ve received from my personal audience. And I shared a painful experience of my own, one I’ve discussed a lot with my friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and therapists, but hadn’t talked about publicly,” Iryna Romaliyska said.
She added that her ex-colleagues on the channel showed her support, but in private.
“A lot of support. And one reaction from my now-former editor. We argued again. I encountered manipulation again. But there has also been a lot of support from my current colleagues. Just not public support, because there’s a fearful atmosphere within the corporation,” the journalist said.
Hryhoriy Pyrlik, Ukrainian journalist and Romaliyska’s former colleague at Current Time, shared her post on Facebook, saying that he could add two points to Iryna’s.
He recounted that in 2024, while working at Current Time, he asked RFE/RL President Steve Capus, “The channel employs people from various countries. Why do Russians hold the overwhelming majority of management positions? Isn’t there discrimination in that?”
According to Pyrlik, Capus replied that there was no discrimination and that he had full trust in the channel’s leadership and its decisions.
“Steve Capus is stepping down from his post on 15 September, and Lisa Curtis will be the new President. The channel, and the corporation as a whole, will get a chance to update,” the journalist stressed.
The Institute of Mass Information is drafting a query to Radio Liberty regarding Iryna Romaliyska’s dismissal from Current Time.
Previously
TV host and journalist Iryna Romaliyska reported having been dismissed from Current Time TV in April 2026.
In July 2026, she joined the YouTube channel Butusov+ as host of a weekly live programme.
