Voice of Russia

Voice of Russia (), commonly abbreviated VOR, was the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service from 1993 until 2014, when it was reorganised as Radio Sputnik. Its interval signal was a chime version of 'Majestic' chorus from the "Great Gate of Kiev" portion of "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky.
History.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree on 22 December 1993 which reorganised Radio Moscow under a new name: Voice of Russia.
A feature of the Voice of Russia was "Moscow Mailbag", which answered listeners' questions in English about Russia. Until 2005, the programme was presented by Joe Adamov, who was known for his command of the English language and his good humour.
On 9 December 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a presidential decree dissolving the Voice of Russia as an agency, and merging it with RIA Novosti to form the "Rossiya Segodnya" international news agency.
Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya, said in March 2014 that "We will stop using obsolete radio broadcasting models, when the signal is transmitted without any control and when it is impossible to calculate who listens to it and where." The Voice of Russia ceased shortwave and European mediumwave radio broadcasts on 1 April 2014. The service continued to be available worldwide via the internet, in selected regions on satellite, and in several cities on FM, AM (in North America) or local digital radio.
On 10 November 2014, the Voice of Russia was replaced by Radio Sputnik, part of the Sputnik News multimedia platform operated by Rossiya Segodnya.
Former transmission network.
The transmission network consisted of at least 30 high-power transmission sites (West to East, with first transmission dates):
The Voice of Russia had broadcast in short, medium and longwave formats, in DAB+, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), HD Radio, as well as through cable, satellite transmission, and in mobile networks. VOR's internet coverage was available in as many as thirty-eight languages.
WNSW in Newark, New Jersey, simulcast an English-language version of The Voice of Russia until 2014.
Broadcast languages.
In 2013, The Voice of Russia had broadcast in thirty-eight (38) languages, including: