In April 1986 my parents learned about the #Chernobyl nuclear disaster via #RadioFreeEurope, while the Polish communist regime continued to hide the fact that a radioactive cloud was passing over Poland. Thanks to a radio funded by the US government, I and many other children behind the Iron Curain were less exposed to radiation that month. And our societies received access to truths the communists were trying to conceal. Today's decision by @DOGE to close @RFERL, @VOANews⁩, ⁦@RadioFreeAsia is ⁩nothing more than a gift to dictators around the world - especially to #Putin and #Russia. Russia's multibillion-dollar effort to push disinformation abroad has given the Cold War radio a new life. 40 million people from 23 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia tune into its coverage, 11 million inside Russia, despite the Kremlin's labeling them a "foreign agent." The US is willingly giving away one of the most important tools of its soft power and an instrument that has changed the world for the better.