to the north korea, or maybe welcome to the ussr. right now, in 2022, you cannot destroy all the voices of the truth. you cannot do it. for staff, the news came as a shock. it is the end of an era for ekho and for russia. more than any other media outlets in russia, this radio station was a symbol, a symbol of freedom of speech and democratic values that russia embraced after the fall of communism — freedoms which are now under threat. soon after, another blow to independent media here. dozhd tv announced it was closing. ekaterina kotrikadze is a russian journalist and former head of news at tv dozhd in russia.