Russia’s top radio station shut amid crackdown on dissent

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top independent radio station has been shut and a leading independent TV station has suspended its operations as Russian authorities stepped up efforts to stifle criticism of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Ekho Moskvy (the Echo of Moscow), has been one of the most influential and respected media outlets in the country ever since it was founded in 1990. The station was taken off the air over its failure to toe the Kremlin’s official line while covering the invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24. On Thursday, the station’s board of directors — which is controlled by its majority owner, a media arm of Russia’s state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom — declared Ekho Moskvy closed.