Russia halts BBC's FM broadcasts in Moscow

The BBC's Russian-language Service was taken off the FM frequency it had been using to broadcast to Moscow yesterday, the second such stoppage in nine months.

The BBC said in a statement the Russian FM radio station that had been re-broadcasting its Russian Service programmes had been told by licensing authorities to stop or risk being taken off the air itself. The move comes two months after a round of diplomatic expulsions brought relations between London and Moscow to their lowest point in years.

Almost all of Russia's broadcast media is deferential in its coverage of the Kremlin. Critics of President Vladimir Putin say his officials have sidelined dissenting voices on radio and television, though he denies this.