Russian independent radio station celebrates 20 years

Radio station Echo of Moscow, one of the few independent media voices in Russia, celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday, with President Dmitry Medvedev offering his congratulations.

“Congratulations to the journalists and listeners of Echo of Moscow, a modern and professional radio (station),” Medvedev wrote on his account at micro-blogging site Twitter.

Echo of Moscow is “a huge army of people who reflect, compare, listen, debate and are not indifferent to what is happening” in Russia, chief editor Alexey Venediktov said in an online video.

Echo of Moscow is one of the few media channels in Russia which allows opposition voices to be heard.

The station first went on air in 1990, opening a two-hour broadcast with “All My Loving” by the Beatles.

After Vladimir Putin’s rise to the presidency in 2000, all major Russian TV channels have come under Kremlin control and exclude opposition voices.