Voice of Russia

Radio Moscow was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Early Years

Radio Moscow began broadcasting in 1922 with a transmitter station RV-1 in the Moscow region. In 1925 a second broadcasting centre came on air at Leningrad. Radio Moscow was broadcasting (on MW & SW) in English, French, German, Italian and Arabic by 1939. Radio Moscow did express concern over the rise of Hitler in Germany during the 1930's, and its Italian MW service specifically was jammed by an order of Mussolini during the late 1930s.

The Cold War Years

The US was first targeted by Radio Moscow during the early 1950s, with transmitters in the Moscow region. Later Western North America was targeted by the newly constructed Vladivostok and Magadan relay stations.

The first broadcasts to Africa went on the air in the late 1950s in English and French. In 1961 Radio Moscow for the first time spoke in three African languages: Amharic, Swahili and Hausa. Over time listeners in Africa got a chance to tune in to Radio Moscow in another 8 African languages.

The first centralized news bulletin went on the air in August 1963 and reached out to listeners all over the world. In the years of the Cold War most news reports and commentaries focused on the relations between the United States and Soviet Union.

In the 1970s the cream of Radio Moscow’s commentator teams united in a radio journal, called “News and Views”. Taking part in the ambitious project were Viktor Glazunov, Leonid Rassadin, Yuri Shalygin, Alexander Kushnir, Yuri Solton and Vladislav Chernukha. Over the years the journal grew into a major information and analytical program of the Radio Moscow foreign service.

Changes 1980s-1991

In the 1980s its English language service was renamed Radio Moscow World Service, in imitation of the BBC World Service.

After the fall of the USSR in 1991 it was renamed the World Service of the Voice of Russia.

For a brief time during the changes, Radio Moscow was playing Cheech and Chong's Christmas Album. Also they were selling Radio Moscow coffee mugs using Visa credit cards.

Radio Moscow continued to broadcast until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Radio Moscow was the 1st European broadcaster to broadcast to western Europe in a variety of languages.

Broadcasting pro-Soviet propaganda was its primary function. The service continues to broadcast today as the Voice of Russia.

At its peak, Radio Moscow broadcast in over 50 languages using transmitters in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Cuba.

Radio Moscow's interval signal was "Moscow Nights ", played on chimes. Since then, VOR World Service has used two further interval signals, "Midnight in Moscow ", a version played by Ricky King , and also its current signal, "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky

One of the most popular programmes spanning both the Radio Moscow and Voice of Russia services is New Market, a programme looking at the Economic Climate and General Economic matters in Russia. Its current presenter is Eugene Nikitenko, but when it first started, it was hosted by two people, Joe Osipova and Magda Korlacheynko.

It was Radio Moscow that gave Margaret Thatcher the nickname "The Iron Lady".

Transmission Network

Radio Moscow's and Voice of Russia's shortwave transmission transmssion network has never been equalled in its transmission power, directivity and reach.

The transmission network consisted of at least 30 high power transmission sites (West to East, with 1st transmission dates):

• Wachenbrunn, Germany (1000 kW carrier power, mediumwave)
• Bolshakovo (2500 kW carrier power, mediumwave)
• Vilnus (site ceeded to Lithuania, operated by Radio Vilnus)
• Moscow (10 known high power SW transmission sites, 1960s: 30)
• St Petersburg (1961) [16 x 200kw SW]
• Volgagrad
• Ykaterinegrad [9 x 100kw SW]
• Samara [6 x 250kw SW + 3 x 200 kw SW + 7 x 100 kw SW]
• Kamo, Armenia (site ceeded to Armenia, but operated by RMOC)
• Omsk
• Archangel (Angarsk, 1971) [2 x 100kw + 4 x 250kw SW + 8 x 500 kw]
• Tashkent (1000 kW carrier power?)
• Krasnodar (1967) [8 x 100kw SW + 8 x 500kw SW]
• Novosibirsk (1956) [17 x 100kw SW, but 1000kw carrier power capable]
• Chita
• Yakutsk
• Komsomolsk
• Duchambe (1000 kW carrier power)
• Vladivostok (1000 kW carrier power?)
• Petrapovlosk-Magadan (1000 kW carrier power?)

The transmission network is partially documented here: http://www.tdp.info/rus.html

The USSR pioneered the use of HRS 8/8/1 curtan arrays for highly targeted SW broadcasting long before HRS 12/6/1 technology became avalible in the west. HRS 8/8/1 curtan arrays create a 10 degree beam of SW energy, and can provide a highly audible signal to a target area some 7,000 km away.

The full extent of Russia's SW antenna directivity research is unknown, although it is understood that some ionspheric heating expriments were carried out at the Kamo and Duchambe relay stations in the late 1980s to 1990.

HRS 6/4/1 & HRS 12/6/1 curtan arrays are sold by an US company TCI in California. Marconi (UK) sold 2 x HRS 6/4/1 antennas to VOA-IBB before terminating all sales and service for its LW / MW and SW products in the late 1990s.

The full list of avalable SW relay stations is only known by the Russian Ministry of Communications. These transmission facilites can rented by contractual agreement. The VOA, DW and other internatioal broadcasters have leased facilites in the past and currently possess lease agreements with Russia's MOC.

All SW relay station facilites in Russia and the former USSR are owned and operated by the Russian Ministry of Communications, with a few exceptions where the facilities were ceeded to the national gouverment.

External links

• Voice of Russia World Service website