Throughout the Cold War, the Radio Free Europe broadcast service found ways to frustrate Moscow's best efforts to censor all news that threatened to provide Soviet bloc citizens with the truth. The network is now a victim of Russian President Vladimir Putin's effort to crack down on all media — foreign and domestic — that contradict his government's version of what's happening in Ukraine. Correspondents and producers can be arrested merely for referring to the war as a war. They are required instead to call it a "special operation."

The draconian restrictions are putting strains on the ability of all Western news media to get around the Russian propaganda machine, which is working overtime to convince its citizens that the invasion is just a limited campaign to root out Nazis. CNN and other international broadcast outlets have had to impose their own signal blocks inside Russia to avoid putting their reporters and producers at risk.

The same applies to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Since its inception, the entire mission of the nonprofit, congressionally funded outlet was to get around the various hurdles that Moscow and its satellite governments imposed to prevent their own people from hearing real news from the outside. That mission is as crucial now as it was during the days of the Iron Curtain.

Putin relies on maintaining the ignorance of his own people to minimize domestic opposition. The Russian people are largely unaware that thousands of Russian troops are being killed in Ukraine as they meet strong resistance. Protesters who dare to speak the truth in public are quickly whisked away by police.

While the world gasps in horror at videos of civilians killed by Russian bombs, domestic news in Russia makes it appear as if Ukrainians are grateful to Putin for rescuing them from Nazi oppression. Even when Ukrainians report to their family members in Russia about what is happening, the reported response from the family members is utter disbelief, as if the Ukrainians witnessing the bombings and destruction firsthand are lying.

Radio Free Europe's website directs listeners who might be affected by the Russian blackout to access the network's broadcasts via the "dark web" using a virtual private network and encryption software. It's not clear whether Russia is blocking its citizens' access even to the instruction page explaining how to get around the blocks.

Meanwhile, subscribers to the electronic editions of thousands of international and U.S. publications, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The New York Times, were unable last week to access those publications after a cyberattack brought down the service provider PressReader.com. The attack occurred shortly after PressReader announced it had blocked several Russian publications and offered free access to its site so Ukrainians could stay informed.

The attack hardly seems coincidental — or surprising, given the Russian leader's penchant for internet mayhem and aversion to anything that smacks of the truth.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

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