During the armed conflict in South Ossetia the Voice of Russia was the only broadcaster quickly delivering the latest news and the position of Russia to the people of Georgia. As of now the Voice of Russia will stipulate more airtime to broadcast to Transcaucasia.On August 9th the Georgian authorities banned all Russian television andradio channels and blocked access to all ru-Websites. Voice of Russia FM-band broadcasts to Tbilisi discontinued as of the night of August 8th.But the Voice of Russia has retained its presence on the Georgian information space. Moscow is broadcasting to Georgia and the neighboring regions 14 hours a day. The Voice of Russia's Commonwealth Service, which broadcasts in Russian to post-Soviet republics and the Baltic countries, has launched an on-line service broadcast reports by Russian news agencies and commentaries by prominent Russian politicians and experts. Yekaterina
Yagunova is the head of the Voice of Russian press service.
The Voice of Russia increased the number of short-wave and medium-wave transmitters to broadcast to Georgia. Besides, programs of the Voice of Russia in Russia are retransmitted in Sukhumi in Abkhazia at the FM-frequency of 107.9 MHz. Airtime has now been increased from 6 to 10 hours per day. And August 8th saw the opening of the South Ossetia Website at www.ruvr.ru which is called "South Ossetia: events and opinion" and is available in Russian and 31 foreign languages. During the conflict the Voice of Russia Internet audience increased by more than two and a half times.
In addition, the Voice of Russia has started a text message service, which is available at +7 (917) 767 7845. Listeners can subscribe to a free news service which will be available in any corner of the globe and supply timely and unbiased information on the developments in South Ossetia regardless of access to the Internet.
During the conflict the Voice of Russia World Service broadcast to global audiences in 37 foreign languages. Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia triggered a wide-ranging reaction with people sending letters,making phone calls and texting to express concern and regret over the loss of life and to voice hope for a peaceful settlement. Many listeners express their gratitude to the Voice of Russia for providing an unbiased coverage of the latest developments in South Ossetia. For many the Voice of Russia was the only source of compete and comprehensive information on what was happening in the region. State Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov said as he spoke on the Voice of Russia that the broadcaster was doing the great service of filling foreign countries up on the viewpoints they rarely hear at home.
Lada Korotun ,Voice of Russia.
(Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India)