Misplaced Pages

#955044

97-635: In July 2023, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the Pahonia Regiment ceased to exist. On March 30, 2022, political activist Vadzim Prakopieu announced the beginning of the formation of the Belarusian Pahonia Regiment as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine . On March 31, 2022, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya announced the unit's formation via social media. The regiment

194-477: A puppet state is a state which acts as a front (or surrogate) for another state. Intelligence agencies use front organizations to provide "cover", plausible occupations and means of income, for their covert agents. These may include legitimate organizations, such as charity, religious or journalism organizations; or " brass plate firms " which exist solely to provide a plausible background story, occupation, and means of income. Brewster Jennings & Associates

291-761: A "great many hours" of broadcast time were devoted to the dissemination of life-saving news and information following the disaster. Broadcast topics included "precautions for exposure to radioactive fallout" and reporting on the plight of the Estonians who were tasked with providing the clean-up operations in Ukraine. Communist governments also sent agents to infiltrate RFE's headquarters. Although some remained on staff for extended periods of time, government authorities discouraged their agents from interfering with broadcast activity, fearing that this could arouse suspicions and detract from their original purpose of gathering information on

388-591: A European-based organization. According to Puddington, Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa and Russian reformer Grigory Yavlinsky would later recall secretly listening to the broadcasts despite the heavy jamming. The Soviet government turned its efforts towards blocking reception of Western programs. To limit access to foreign broadcasts, the Central Committee decreed that factories should remove all components allowing short-wave reception from USSR -made radio receivers. However, consumers easily learned that

485-564: A ban on all foreign media in the country, including RFE/RL. Kyrgyzstan suspended broadcasts of Radio Azattyk, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz language service, because it had asked that the government be able to pre-approve its programming. Other states such as Belarus , Iran , Turkmenistan , Tajikistan , and Uzbekistan prohibit re-broadcasting to local stations, making programming difficult for average listeners to access. In 1998, RFE/RL began broadcasting to Iraq . Iraqi president Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi Intelligence Service , to "violently disrupt

582-459: A base at Platja de Pals , Spain . Radio Liberty expanded its audience by broadcasting programs in languages other than Russian. By March 1954, Radio Liberty was broadcasting six to seven hours daily in eleven languages. By December 1954, Radio Liberty was broadcasting in 17 languages including Ukrainian , Belarusian , Kazakh , Kyrgyz , Tajik , Turkmen , Uzbek , Tatar , Bashkir , Armenian , Azerbaijani , Georgian , and other languages of

679-427: A campaign called Action for Access , which also claimed it was an independent organization and the voice of multiple sclerosis sufferers. People who visited the website and signed up for the campaign did not realise that these were not genuinely independent patient groups. Over the past 15 years, increasing concerns about obesity have caused Coca-Cola to experience pressure from social movement activists to reduce

776-473: A corporation. Research has revealed that the CCF, with a mission to "promote responsibility and protect consumer choices ", uses both verbal and visual strategies to articulate obesity as "personal responsibility" to protect the industry from corporate responsibility. Tobacco companies frequently use front organizations and doctors to advocate their arguments about tobacco use although less openly and obviously than in

873-491: A failed attempt by a Czechoslovak Intelligence Service (StB) agent in 1959 to poison the salt shakers in the organization's cafeteria. In late 1960, an upheaval in the Czechoslovak service led to a number of dramatic changes in the organization's structure. RFE's New York headquarters could no longer effectively manage their Munich subsidiary. As a result major management responsibilities were transferred to Munich, making RFE

970-530: A front company to launder funds that were generated from the sale of cocaine . The boxing management company MTK Global is owned by the reputed Irish gang boss Daniel Kinahan . Heredia Boxing Management alleges that MTK Global was established as a front company to launder funds made from drug trafficking. During the year of 2019, ACT Police shut down the Lakeside Tattoo Parlour in Belconnen on

1067-698: A high-ranking FSB official who is a close associate of Vladimir Putin . The FBI has acknowledged using at least thirteen front companies to conceal their use of aircraft to observe criminal activity in the United States, including: Many organized crime operations have substantial legitimate businesses, such as licensed gambling houses, building construction companies, hair salons and karaoke bars, engineering firms, restaurants and bars, billiard clubs, trash hauling services, or dock loading enterprises. These front companies enable these criminal organizations to launder their income from illegal activities. As well,

SECTION 10

#1733085237956

1164-882: A more open role in the organization.) Similarly, Unite Against Fascism , the Anti-Nazi League , the Stop the War Coalition and Respect – The Unity Coalition are all criticised as being fronts for the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party (UK) . In 2014, Andrew Cuomo established a front political party, the Women's Equality Party . The party was established to take advantage of electoral fusion laws in New York State that allow candidates to run on multiple ballot lines and to count all of their votes together. Critics of

1261-502: A network of well-connected émigrés and interviews with travelers and defectors. RFE did not use paid agents inside the Iron Curtain and based its bureaus in regions popular with exiles. RFE also extensively monitored Communist bloc publications and radio services, creating a body of information that would later serve as a resource for organizations across the world. In addition to its regular broadcasts, RFE spread broadcasts through

1358-621: A number of central security concerns, including cyberterrorist attacks and general terrorist threats. After the September 11 attacks , American and Czech authorities agreed to move RFE/RL's Prague headquarters away from the city center in order to make it less vulnerable to terrorist attack. On February 19, 2009, RFE/RL began broadcasting from its new headquarters east of the city center. RFE/RL says that it continues to struggle with authoritarian regimes for permission to broadcast freely within their countries. On January 1, 2009, Azerbaijan imposed

1455-583: A permanent bureau in Moscow. Following the November 17 demonstrations in 1989 and brutal crackdown by Czechoslovak riot police, Drahomíra Dražská  [ cs ] , a porter at a dormitory in Prague, reported that a student, Martin Šmíd , had been killed during the clashes. The Charter 77 activist Petr Uhl believed this account and passed it along to major news organizations, who broadcast it. After Reuters and

1552-644: A resolution expressing its support for the Pahonia Regiment. In July 2023, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the Pahonia Regiment ceased to exist. On September 26, 2022, in the Battle of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region , Alyaksei Veshchavaylau, a fighter of the Pahonia Regiment was killed. Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ( RFE/RL ) is an American government -funded media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe , Central Asia ,

1649-646: A series of operations that distributed leaflets via meteorological balloons ; one such operation, Prospero, sent messages to Czechoslovakia. From October 1951 to November 1956, the skies of Central Europe were filled with more than 350,000 balloons carrying over 300 million leaflets, posters, books, and other printed matter. The nature of the leaflets varied, and according to Arch Puddington included messages of support and encouragement "to citizens suffering under communist oppression", "satirical criticisms of communist regimes and leaders", information about dissident movements and human rights campaigns, and messages expressing

1746-571: A supposedly more moderate group. Some special interest groups engage in astroturfing , an attempt to mask lobbying as a grassroots movement . South Africa 's apartheid -era government used numerous front organizations to influence world opinion and to undertake extra-judicial activities and the killing of anti-apartheid activists; these included the following: Communist parties (especially Marxist-Leninist ones) have sometimes used front organizations to attract support from those (sometimes called " fellow travellers ") who do not fully agree with

1843-495: A transmitter base at Glória , Portugal in 1951. It also had a base at Oberwiesenfeld Airport on the outskirts of Munich, employing several former Nazi agents who had been involved in the Ostministerium under Gerhard von Mende during World War II. In 1955, Radio Liberty began broadcasting programs to Russia's eastern provinces from shortwave transmitters located on Taiwan . In 1959, Radio Liberty commenced broadcasts from

1940-449: A transmitter base at Lampertheim , West Germany, and on July 4 of the same year RFE completed its first broadcast aimed at Czechoslovakia . In late 1950, RFE began to assemble a full-fledged foreign broadcast staff, becoming more than a "mouthpiece for exiles". Teams of journalists were hired for each language service, and an elaborate system of intelligence gathering provided up-to-date broadcast material. Most of this material came from

2037-611: Is considered by many to now be a front group for the Church of Scientology, which took the group over financially after bankrupting it in a series of lawsuits. Time identified several other fronts for Scientology, including: the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), The Way to Happiness Foundation , Applied Scholastics , the Concerned Businessmen's Association of America , and HealthMed Clinic . Seven years later

SECTION 20

#1733085237956

2134-936: Is not limited to the United Front Work Department (UFWD). An anti-Islamist feminist group in the Muslim world has also been accused of being a front organization. The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq has been accused of being a front for the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq . Banned paramilitary organizations sometimes use front groups to achieve a public face with which to raise funds, negotiate with opposition parties, recruit, and spread propaganda. For example, banned paramilitary organizations often have an affiliated political party that operates more openly, but those parties themselves often end up being banned. The parties may or may not be front organizations in

2231-625: Is still debated. In 1958, the Central Committee mentioned that the sum spent on jamming was greater than the sum spent on domestic and international broadcasting combined. The Central Committee has admitted that circumventing jamming was both possible and practised in the Soviet Union. Due to limited resources, authorities prioritized jamming based on the location, language, time, and theme of Western transmissions. Highly political programs in Russian, broadcast at prime time to urban centers, were perceived as

2328-670: Is thought as a synonym of brothel in these countries. A Colombian drug cartel, the Cali Cartel , in the past used Drogas La Rebaja, now a large national pharmacy store chain, as a front company in order to launder their drug trafficking earnings. The General Manager of the Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga, New York , is the international leader of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club : John Ermin. Many Outlaws MC members also work at

2425-509: The Boston Herald showed how Narconon and World Literacy Crusade were also fronts for Scientology. Other Scientology groups include Downtown Medical , Criminon and the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE). In politics, a group may be called a front organization if it is perceived to be disingenuous in its control or goals or if it attempts to mask extremist views within

2522-622: The 1991 presidential elections . He also supported the August 1991 coup attempt . The united front is a political strategy and network of groups and key individuals that are influenced or controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and used to advance its interests. It has traditionally been a popular front that has included eight legally-permitted political parties : the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC),

2619-569: The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce , the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade , the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese , and other people's organizations . Under Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping , the united front and its targets of influence have expanded in size and scope. The united front is managed primarily by but

2716-550: The CIA until 1972, the two merged in 1976. RFE/RL was headquartered in Munich from 1949 to 1995, with additional broadcasts from Portugal's Glória do Ribatejo until 1996. Soviet authorities jammed their signals, and communist regimes often infiltrated their operations. Today, RFE/RL is a private 501(c)(3) corporation supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media , which oversees all government-supported international broadcasting. Since

2813-751: The Caucasus , and the Middle East . Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL operates 21 local bureaus with over 500 core staff, 1,300 freelancers, and 680 employees at its corporate offices in Washington, D.C. Nicola Careem serves as the editor-in-chief. Founded during the Cold War , RFE began in 1949 targeting Soviet satellite states , while RL, established in 1951, focused on the Soviet Union . Initially funded covertly by

2910-456: The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness has been criticised as a front organization for various industry bodies which seek to undermine regulation of their environmentally damaging activities under the guise of 'regulatory effectiveness'. Astroturfing , a wordplay based on " grassroots " efforts, is an American term used pejoratively to describe formal public relations projects which try to create

3007-626: The Communist Party USA was highly stigmatized, it often operated largely through front groups. In addition, the Provisional IRA also operated a vigilante front group, Direct Action Against Drugs . Both Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries in Ireland during the Troubles used cover names when they carried out sectarian attacks against civilians. Republican groups like the Provisional IRA and

Pahonia Regiment - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-584: The Czech Republic proceeded for three more years under the agreement with Czech Radio. In 2004 RFE/RL stopped broadcasting to Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Slovakia , Croatia , Montenegro , Bulgaria , and Romania . RFE/RL Chief Jeffrey Gedmin said in 2008 that the agency's mission is to serve as a surrogate free press in countries where such press is banned by the government or not fully established. It maintains 20 local bureaus. Governments that are subjected to critical reporting often attempt to obstruct

3201-608: The Hungarian revolution that year. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , RFE broadcasts encouraged rebels to fight and suggested that Western support was imminent. These RFE broadcasts violated Eisenhower 's policy, which had determined that the United States would not provide military support for the Revolution. According to Arch Puddington, a former bureau manager for RFL/RL, a number of changes were implemented at RFE in

3298-912: The Irish National Liberation Army used front names like the South Armagh Republican Action Force , Catholic Reaction Force and the People's Republican Army to claim responsibility for attacks on civilians, Loyalists like the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defense Association used various front names such as the Protestant Action Force , Ulster Freedom Fighters and Red Hand Defenders when they carried out attacks against civilians, most of which were aimed at Catholic civilians. During

3395-496: The Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union (LDPSU), which became the second officially-registered party in the country. According to KGB General Philipp Bobkov , it was a " Zubatov 's pseudo-party under KGB control that directs interests and sentiments of certain social groups". The former Soviet Politburo member Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev described in his book how KGB Director Vladimir Kryuchkov presented

3492-673: The Revolutions of 1989 and the Soviet Union's dissolution , the organization's European presence has been reduced. Radio Free Europe was created and grew in its early years through the efforts of the National Committee for a Free Europe (NCFE), an anti-communist CIA front organization that was formed by Allen Dulles in New York City in 1949. RFE/RL received funds covertly from the CIA until 1972. During RFE's earliest years of existence,

3589-518: The Russian program of biological weapons . This delivery channel encoded VOLNA ("wave") meant "delivering the material via an international flight of the Aeroflot airline in the pilots' cabin, where one of the pilots was a KGB officer". At least two SVR agents died, presumably from the transported pathogens. When businessman Nikolai Glushkov was appointed as a top manager of Aeroflot in 1996, he found that

3686-502: The U.S. Secretary of State . The end to jamming came abruptly on 21 November 1988 when Soviet and Eastern European jamming of virtually all foreign broadcasts, including RFE/RL services, ceased at 21:00 CET . During the Cold War, RFE was often criticized in the United States as not being sufficiently anti-communist. Although its non-governmental status spared it from full scale McCarthyist investigations, several RFE journalists, including

3783-659: The Vietnam War . Other CIA-funded front groups have been used to spread American propaganda and influence during the Cold War , particularly in the Third World . When intelligence agencies work through legitimate organizations, it can cause problems and increased risk for the workers of those organizations. To prevent this, the CIA has had a 20-year policy (since 1976, per US Government sources) of not using Peace Corps members or US journalists for intelligence purposes. Another airline allegedly involved in intelligence operations

3880-573: The Voice of America (VOA) launched a new Russian-language TV news program, Current Time , "to provide audiences in countries bordering Russia with a balanced alternative to the disinformation produced by Russian media outlets that is driving instability in the region ". Over the next two years, Current Time – led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA – expanded to become a 24/7 digital and TV stream for Russian-speaking audiences worldwide. Around 2017, Voice of America and RFE/RL launched Polygraph.info , and

3977-526: The Voice of America (VOA) reported the story, RFE/RL decided to run it too. However, the report later turned out to be false. The story is credited by many sources with inspiring Czechoslovak citizens to join the subsequent (larger) demonstrations which eventually brought down the communist government. In 1995, RFE/RL moved its headquarters from Munich to Prague, to the building of the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly . It had been vacant since

Pahonia Regiment - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-678: The Weimar Republic in Germany, the anti-Semitic and nationalist Organisation Consul reportedly had a front company named the Bavarian Wood Products Company. Corporations from a wide variety of different industries, such as food, pharmaceutical and energy, set up front groups to advocate on their behalf. Some pharmaceutical companies set up "patients' groups" as front organizations that pressure healthcare providers and legislators to adopt their products. For example, Biogen set up

4171-782: The World Federation of Trade Unions , the World Federation of Democratic Youth , and the International Union of Students . Richard Felix Staar has also suggested that these organizations were somewhat less important front organizations: Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation , Christian Peace Conference , International Association of Democratic Lawyers , International Federation of Resistance Movements , International Institute for Peace , International Organization of Journalists , Women's International Democratic Federation , and World Federation of Scientific Workers . There were also numerous smaller organizations, affiliated with

4268-456: The 1960s, direct funding responsibility shifted to Congress. RFE/RL received funds from the CIA until 1972. The CIA's relationship with the radio stations began to break down in 1967, when Ramparts magazine published an exposé claiming that the CIA was channeling funds to civilian organizations. Further investigation into the CIA's funding activities revealed its connection to both RFE and RL, sparking significant media outrage. In 1971,

4365-500: The 1980s. The World Health Organization has charged that the tobacco industry funded seemingly-unbiased scientific organizations to undermine tobacco control measures and cited the International Life Sciences Institute in particular. Another way to combat public health measures against tobacco is to use lobbying and campaign contributions. For example, RJ Reynolds , the current second-largest tobacco company in

4462-743: The 1992 dissolution of Czechoslovakia . The Clinton Administration reduced funding significantly and placed the service under the United States Information Agency 's oversight. RFE/RL ended broadcasts to Hungary in 1993 and stopped broadcasts to Poland in 1997. On January 31, 1994, RFE/RL launched broadcasts to the former Yugoslavia in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian languages. In the late 1990s RFE/RL launched broadcast to Kosovo in Albanian and to North Macedonia in Macedonian. Broadcast to

4559-569: The American Sector (RIAS) a U.S. government-sponsored radio service initially intended for Germans living in the American sector of Berlin. According to Arch Puddington, a former bureau manager for RFE/RL, it was also widely listened to by East Germans. Staffed almost entirely by Germans with minimal U.S. supervision, the station provided free media to German listeners. In January 1950, the NCFE obtained

4656-437: The CIA and U.S. Department of State issued broad policy directives, and a system evolved where broadcast policy was determined through negotiation between them and RFE staff. Radio Free Europe received widespread public support from Eisenhower's " Crusade for Freedom " campaign. In 1950, over 16 million Americans signed Eisenhower's "Freedom Scrolls" on a publicity trip to more than 20 U.S. cities and contributed $ 1,317,000 to

4753-489: The CIA officer in charge of overseeing broadcast services from 1954 to 1971, the CIA took a position of minimal government interference in radio affairs and programming. In 1974, they came under the control of an organization called the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB). The BIB was designed to receive appropriations from Congress, give them to radio managements, and oversee the appropriation of funds. On 1 October 1976,

4850-549: The Caucasus ), focused on local and international news and current affairs, organized in coordination with RFE/RL's Georgian Service. On January 15, 2010, RFE/RL began broadcasting to the Pashtun tribal areas of Pakistan in Pashto . The service, known as Radio Mashaal ("Torch"), was created in an attempt to counter the growing number of local Islamic extremist radio stations broadcasting in

4947-686: The Caucasus and Central Asia. According to certain European politicians such as Petr Nečas , RFE played a significant role in the collapse of communism and the development of democracy in Eastern Europe. Unlike government-censored programs, RFE publicized anti-Soviet protests and nationalist movements. Its audience increased substantially following the failed Berlin riots of 1953 and the highly publicized defection of Józef Światło . Arch Puddington argues that its Hungarian service's coverage of Poland 's Poznań riots in 1956 served as an inspiration for

SECTION 50

#1733085237956

5044-425: The Church's offices (following discovery of the Church's Operation Snow White ) turned up, among other documents, an undated memo entitled "PR General Categories of Data Needing Coding". This memo listed what it called "Secret PR Front Groups," which included the group APRL, "Alliance for the Preservation of Religious Liberty" (later renamed "Americans Preserving Religious Liberty"). The Cult Awareness Network (CAN)

5141-414: The Hungarian service was also relaunched. Front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies , organized crime groups, terrorist organizations , secret societies , banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy groups , or corporations . Front organizations can act for the parent group without

5238-411: The Iraqi broadcasting of Radio Free Europe". IIS planned to attack the headquarters with an RPG-7 from a window across the street. Czech Security Information Service (BIS) foiled the plot. In 2008, Afghan president Hamid Karzai urged his government to provide assistance to a rape victim after listening to her story on Radio Azadi , RFE/RL's Afghan service. According to REF/RL in 2009, Radio Azadi

5335-421: The Jackal"), and paid for by Nicolae Ceaușescu , president of Romania. But, according to the former head of the KGB Counterintelligence Department K, general Oleg Kalugin , the bombing operation was planned over two years by Department K, with the active involvement of a KGB mole inside the radio station, Oleg Tumanov. This revelation directly implicates KGB colonel Oleg Nechiporenko , who recruited Tumanov in

5432-425: The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus recognized the Pahonia Regiment as an "extremist formation". They are among the list of 625 persons to be deemed as extremists. In November 2022, fighters of the Pahonia Regiment, together with Belarusians permanently living in Ukraine, founded the public association "Pahonia". Kickboxer Vitaly Gurkov became its director. In November 2022, the European Parliament adopted

5529-452: The Russian-language factograph.info , as fact-checking sites. On July 19, 2018, RFE/RL announced it will be returning its news services to Bulgaria and Romania by the end of 2018 amid growing concern about a reversal in democratic gains and attacks on the rule of law and the judiciary in the two countries. The Romanian news service re-launched on January 14, 2019, and the Bulgarian service re-launched on January 21, 2019. On 8 September 2020

5626-477: The US is maintained by the Multinational Monitor . Some think tanks are corporate front groups. These organizations present themselves as research organizations, using phrases such as "...Institute for Research" in their names. Because their names suggest neutrality, they can present the commercial strategies of the corporations which sponsor them in a way which appears to be objective sociological or economical research rather than political lobbying. Similarly

5723-453: The United States Congress and that a new organization, the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) would simultaneously link the stations and the federal government, and serve as an editorial buffer between them. According to Arch Puddington, a former bureau manager for RFE/RL, though both radio stations initially received most of their funding from the CIA, RFE maintained a strong sense of autonomy; Puddington says that under Cord Meyer ,

5820-454: The United States, created a front group named Get Government Off Our Back ("GGOOB") in 1994 to fight federal regulation of tobacco. By hiding its involvement with tobacco industry, GGOOB avoided the tobacco industry reputation for misrepresenting evidence and drew big supports from both public and legislative aspects, successfully resolving the threats from wide-reaching tobacco regulations. A list of some alleged corporate front groups active in

5917-448: The above fronts such as Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs . Numerous peace conferences, congresses and festivals have been staged with support of those organizations. More recently, the Workers' World Party (WWP) set up an anti-war front group, International ANSWER . (ANSWER is no longer closely associated with WWP; it is closely associated with a WWP splinter, the Party for Socialism and Liberation , but PSL plays

SECTION 60

#1733085237956

6014-453: The actions being attributed to the parent group, thereby allowing them to hide certain activities from the authorities or the public. Front organizations that appear to be independent voluntary associations or charitable organizations are called front groups . In the business world, front organizations such as front companies or shell corporations are used to shield the parent company from legal liability. In international relations ,

6111-402: The airline company worked as a " cash cow to support international spying operations" according to Alex Goldfarb : 3,000 people out of the total workforce of 14,000 in Aeroflot were FSB , SVR, or GRU officers. All proceeds from ticket sales were distributed to 352 foreign bank accounts that could not be controlled by the Aeroflot administration. Glushkov closed all these accounts and channeled

6208-459: The border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Radio Mashaal says that it broadcasts local and international news with in-depth reports on terrorism, politics, women's issues, and health care (with an emphasis on preventive medicine ). The station broadcasts roundtable discussions and interviews with tribal leaders and local policymakers, in addition to regular call-in programs. On October 14, 2014, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and

6305-443: The club. Authorities have referred to Pharaoh's as a hot spot for drug dealing and sex trafficking. The club's owner is Peter G. Gerace Jr., the nephew of reputed Buffalo crime family boss Joseph A. Todaro Jr. The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, themselves, have been designated by federal law enforcement as a criminal enterprise. In the early 2000s, the Black Mafia Family established the Atlanta-based record label BMF Entertainment as

6402-434: The controversial circumstances surrounding the deaths of three directors of RFE/RL's Romanian Service. On February 21, 1981, RFE/RL's headquarters in Munich was struck by a massive bomb, causing $ 2 million in damage. Several employees were injured, but there were no fatalities. Stasi files opened after 1989 indicated that the bombing was carried out by a group under the direction of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (known as "Carlos

6499-455: The controversy over its alleged role in the Hungarian Revolution. During the Mikhail Gorbachev era in the Soviet Union under Glasnost , RFE/RL benefited significantly from the Soviet Union's new openness. Gorbachev stopped the practice of jamming the broadcasts. In addition, dissident politicians and officials could be freely interviewed by RFE/RL for the first time without fearing persecution or imprisonment. By 1990, Radio Liberty had become

6596-419: The developing world. RFE was developed out of a belief that the Cold War would eventually be fought by political rather than military means. American policymakers such as George Kennan and John Foster Dulles acknowledged that the Cold War was essentially a war of ideas . The implementation of surrogate radio stations was a key part of the greater psychological war effort. RFE was modeled after Radio in

6693-402: The director of the Czech service, Ferdinand Peroutka , were accused of being soft on Communism. Fulton Lewis , a U.S. radio commentator and fervent anti-communist, was one of RFE's sharpest critics throughout the 1950s. His critical broadcasts inspired other journalists to investigate the inner workings of the organization, including its connection to the CIA. When its CIA ties were exposed in

6790-479: The early 1960s and was his Moscow curator. Nechiporenko has never denied his involvement. In an interview with Radio Liberty in 2003, he justified the bombing on the grounds that RFE/RL was an American propaganda tool against the Soviet Union. Tumanov was exfiltrated back to the USSR in 1986. Nechiporenko contacts with Carlos in the 1970s were confirmed by Nechiporenko himself in an article published by Segodnya in 2000 and by an article in Izvestia in 2001. For

6887-436: The expansion of RFE. Writer Sig Mickelson said that the NCFE's mission was to support refugees and provide them with a useful outlet for their opinions and creativity while increasing exposure to the modern world. The NCFE divided its program into three parts: exile relations, radio , and American contacts. The United States funded a long list of projects to counter the "Communist appeal" among intellectuals in Europe and

6984-573: The first two days following the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, the official Eastern Bloc media did not report any news about the disaster, nor any full account for another four months. According to the Hoover Institute , the people of the Soviet Union "became frustrated with inconsistent and contradictory reports", and 36% of them turned to Western radio to provide accurate and pertinent information. Listenership at RFE/RL "shot up dramatically" as

7081-417: The front companies provide plausible cover for illegal activities such as illegal gambling , extortion , drug trafficking , smuggling , and prostitution . Tattoo parlors are often used as fronts for outlaw motorcycle clubs . Where brothels are illegal, criminal organizations set up front companies providing services such as a " massage parlor " or "sauna" to the point that "massage parlor" or "sauna"

7178-421: The grounds of it being allegedly used to launder cash for the notorious outlaw motorcycle gang, Comanchero Motorcycle Club . The money laundered through the tattoo parlor allegedly came from the club's drug trafficking operations. The Church of Scientology uses front groups either to promote its interests in politics, to make its group seem more legitimate, and to recruit. The FBI 's July 8, 1977 raids on

7275-623: The instructors of the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine. On September 14, 2022, Vadzim Prakopieu, one of the founders of the regiment and assistant commander, left the regiment. In October 25, 2022, it became known that the air reconnaissance team of the Pursuit Regiment had transferred to the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment , another unit of Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine. On October 28, 2022,

7372-515: The late 1960s. Technically, he was not a journalist. As a historian by training, he worked in the RFE's media analysis service in Munich. After more than five years, Czechowicz returned to Poland in 1971 and participated in programs aimed at embarrassing Radio Free Europe and the United States government." According to Richard Cummings, former Security Chief of Radio Free Europe, other espionage incidents included

7469-457: The money to an accounting center called Andava in Switzerland . He also sent a bill and wrote a letter to SVR director Yevgeni Primakov and FSB director Mikhail Barsukov asking them to pay salaries of their intelligence officers in Aeroflot in 1996. Glushkov was imprisoned in 2000 on charges of illegally channeling money through Andava. Since 2004 the company is controlled by Viktor Ivanov ,

7566-557: The most dangerous. Seen as less politically threatening, Western music such as jazz was often transmitted unjammed. During and after the Cuban Missile Crisis in late 1962, jamming was intensified. The Cuban Missile Crisis, however, was followed by a five-year period when the jamming of most foreign broadcasters ceased, only to intensify again with the Prague Spring in 1968. It ceased again in 1973, when Henry Kissinger became

7663-426: The most listened-to Western radio station broadcasting to the Soviet Union. Its coverage of the 1991 August coup enriched sparse domestic coverage of the event and drew in a wide audience. The broadcasts allowed Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin to stay in touch with the Russian people during this turbulent period. Boris Yeltsin later expressed his gratitude through a presidential decree allowing Radio Liberty to open

7760-629: The narrow sense (they have varying degrees of autonomy, and the relationships are usually something of an open secret ) but are widely considered to be so, especially by their political opponents. Examples are the relationship between the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin in 1980s Ireland or between the Basque groups ETA (paramilitary) and Batasuna (party) in Spain . Similarly, in the United States , when

7857-456: The necessary spare parts were available on the black market, and electronics engineers opposing the idea would gladly convert radios back to being able to receive short-wave transmissions. The most extensive form of reception obstruction was radio jamming . This was controlled by the KGB , which in turn reported to the Central Committee. Jamming was an expensive and arduous procedure, and its efficacy

7954-523: The party and of Cuomo have noted that there is an inherent level of deception involved in the party, as Cuomo is not a woman, the party has not favored women in its endorsement policies, and Cuomo's gubernatorial campaign fund is the primary source of revenue for the party's operations. In April 1991, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union leadership and the KGB created a puppet political party in Russia,

8051-415: The party's ideology but agree with certain aspects of it. The front organization often obscures its provenance and may often be a tool for recruitment. Other Marxists often describe front organizations as opportunist . The concept of a front organization should be distinguished from the united front (a coalition of working class or socialist parties) and the popular front . Both the united front and

8148-700: The popular front usually disclose the groups that make up their coalitions. According to a list prepared in 1955 by the United States Senate Internal Security Subcommittee , the Comintern set up no less than 82 front organizations in the United States in the 1930s and the 1940s. Soviet intelligence infiltrated many peace movements in the West . In addition to the World Peace Council , important communist front organizations included

8245-528: The project of the puppet party at a joint meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev and informed him about a selection of party leaders and the mechanism of funding from Communist Party money. The book includes an official copy of a document providing the initial Liberal Democratic Party funding (3 million rubles) from the Communist Party's money. The Liberal Democratic leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky , proved to be an effective media performer and gained 8% of votes during

8342-523: The radio station's activities. From 1965 to 1971, an agent of the SB ( Służba Bezpieczeństwa , Communist Poland's security service) successfully infiltrated the station with an operative, Captain Andrzej Czechowicz. According to former Voice of America Polish service director Ted Lipien: "Czechowicz is perhaps the most well known communist-era Polish spy who was still an active agent while working at RFE in

8439-559: The radio stations came under public spotlight once more when U.S. Senator Clifford Case introduced Senate Bill 18, which would have removed funding for RFE and RL from the CIA's budget, appropriated $ 30 million to pay for fiscal year 1972 activities, and required the State Department to temporarily oversee the radio stations. In May 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed a special commission to deliberate RFE/RL's future. The commission proposed that funding come directly from

8536-646: The solidarity of the American people with the residents of Eastern European nations. Puddington stated that "the project served as a publicity tool to solidify RFE's reputation as an unbiased broadcaster". Whereas Radio Free Europe broadcast to Soviet satellite countries, Radio Liberty broadcast to the Soviet Union . Radio Liberty was formed by American Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (Amcomlib) in 1951. Originally named Radio Liberation from Bolshevism,

8633-489: The station was renamed in 1956 to Radio Liberation in 1956, and received its present name, Radio Liberty after a policy statement emphasizing "liberalization" rather than "liberation". Radio Liberty began broadcasting from Lampertheim on March 1, 1953, gaining a substantial audience when it covered the death of Joseph Stalin four days later. In order to better serve a greater geographic area, RFE supplemented its shortwave transmissions from Lampertheim with broadcasts from

8730-403: The station's activities through a range of tactics, including extensive jamming, shutting down local re-broadcasting affiliates, or finding legal excuses to close down offices. RFE/RL says that its journalists and freelancers often risk their lives to broadcast information, and their safety has always been a major issue. Reporters have frequently been threatened and persecuted. RFE/RL also faces

8827-577: The sugar content in its drinks. Although Coca-Cola has publicly promoted consumer engagement in healthy lifestyles with its campaigns such as ' Coming Together ', activists have also exposed that Coca-Cola has secretly funded front groups or organizations that criticize social movement activists and legitimize controversial corporate activities . The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) and Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN) are two main groups that engage activists on behalf of Coca-Cola even though they were not intended to be publicly associated with Coca-Cola as

8924-473: The two radio stations merged to form Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and added the three Baltic language services to their repertoire. Funding for RFE/RL increased during the Reagan administration . President Ronald Reagan , a fervent anticommunist, urged the stations to be more critical of the communist regimes. This presented a challenge to RFE/RL's broadcast strategy, which had been very cautious since

9021-681: The wake of this scandal, including the establishment of the Broadcast Analysis Division to ensure that broadcasts were accurate and professional while maintaining the journalists' autonomy. RFE was seen as a serious threat by Romanian president Nicolae Ceaușescu . From the mid-1970s to his overthrow and execution in December 1989, Ceaușescu waged a vengeful war against the RFE/RL under the program "Ether". Ether operations included physical attacks on Romanian journalists working for RFE/RL, including

9118-561: Was Russian Aeroflot that worked in a close coordination with KGB , SVR and GRU . The company conducted forcible "evacuations" of Soviet citizens from foreign countries back to the USSR. People whose loyalty was questioned were drugged and delivered unconscious by Aeroflot planes, assisted by the company KGB personnel, according to former GRU officer Victor Suvorov . In the 1980s and 1990s, specimens of deadly bacteria and viruses stolen from Western laboratories were delivered by Aeroflot to support

9215-570: Was a front company set up in 1994 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a cover for its officers. The airline Air America , an outgrowth of Civil Air Transport of the 1940s, and Southern Air Transport , ostensibly a civilian air charter company, were operated and wholly owned by the CIA , supposedly to provide humanitarian aid , but flew many combat support missions and supplied covert operations in Southeast Asia during

9312-756: Was created on the initiative of Belarusian officers, many of whom had served already in the Pahonia detachment during the War in Donbas (2014–2022) . Its recruiting center is located in Warsaw . In June 2022, it became known that the first group of fighters of the Pahonia Regiment signed contracts with the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine . In the same month, "Pahonia" became known as "special purpose regiment". The regiment's fighters are trained by American Matthew Parker, one of

9409-598: Was the most popular radio station in Afghanistan, and Afghan listeners mailed hundreds of hand-written letters to the station each month. In September 2009, RFE/RL announced that it would begin new Pashto-language broadcasting to the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region. The following month RFE/RL introduced a daily, one-hour Russian-language broadcast, broadcasting to the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia . The program, called Ekho Kavkaza ( Echo of

#955044