Russian-backed RT America stops production, lays off majority of its staff

RT America, the television network backed by the Russian government, is shutting down production and laying off its staff, according to CNN.

This all comes a week after Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking international outrage and sanctions against Russia from various countries, including the U.S.

The news comes via a memo from T&R Productions, the production company behind RT America, which was obtained by Oliver Darcy, CNN’s senior media reporter.

According to the memo, T&R Productions General Manager Misha Solodovnikov told staff that the company would be “ceasing production” at every location “as a result of unforeseen business interruption events.”

The locations where the production company had operated included Miami, FL, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, and Washington, D.C.

“Unfortunately, we anticipate this layoff will be permanent, meaning that this will result in the permanent separation from employment of most T&R employees at all locations.”

The layoffs were listed as effective on or about May 3 of this year.

Earlier this week, RT America, a main sounding board for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the U.S., was dropped by DirecTV, which represented a key financial interest in the network.

The sole other television provider that carried RT America, streaming hardware service Roku, also nixed RT America from its platform.

The announcement of the layoffs was apparently made by Solodovnikov in person to a number of staff in the Washington, D.C. bureau, according to a source cited by CNN. The source also reported Solodovnikov informed them production of RT America would be stopped, and that employees would be given two months pay.

The attendee of the meeting said the sudden shock sent many of the employees into tears.