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In 2025, Echo continued to grow, improving its products and expanding its audience despite the ongoing and worsening environment. Echo’s journalists in exile are working to counter disinformation, spreading independent information to our audience, which is largely based in Russia.

In Russia, the crackdown on independent information continues, and the conditions for its dissemination are only getting worse. Over the past year, there has been an active campaign against YouTube — sometimes simply slowing it down, and sometimes blocking it entirely. Numerous websites have been blocked. According to Roskomsvoboda, more than 25,000 websites have been subjected to blocking due to wartime censorship. Echo is among the leaders in terms of blocks — over 50 different mirror sites have been shut down. As a result, access to information is often possible only through VPNs. The Russian authorities are also actively targeting VPNs. In addition to endless bans on various services, new laws against VPNs are being introduced. From September 1, new restrictions on searching for certain types of content are coming into force. These are just a few examples that show the shrinking space for independent information in Russia.

Even in these conditions, we strive to stay connected with our readers and listeners. And this is precisely where much of the support from our financial donors goes.

We fight these blocks thanks to the work of our IT team, which ensures that new mirrors are always available so that people in Russia can access our site without obstacles.

Our app, which works like a radio, continues to broadcast our listeners’ favorite programs. Many of these are sourced from YouTube, allowing people to listen to them and bypass the blocks. Our video content, which we post on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, is especially successful in reaching new audiences. If the website and radio are primarily ways to reach those who have long been with us, video is our tool for growing the audience — and here we have seen significant success. For example, our Instagram following recently surpassed 100,000.
We continue to host a large number of offline events. In the first half of 2025 alone, we held 30 meetings, attended by 7,500 people. For us, these are not only opportunities to become more financially sustainable but also to meet people in person and help build local communities.

In 2025, we began to invest more systematically in our crowdfunding efforts and in working with private donors. For us, this is not just about raising funds but also about building loyalty among our supporters. We use a variety of tools, but the core of our work is our email newsletter. While email may be an old and not particularly trendy form of communication, it remains the most reliable way to reach our supporters — and one that the authorities cannot block.

And that’s far from all. We will continue our work thanks to your support. We deeply appreciate it, and our entire team says to you: “Thank you! You are the best.”