The Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted DirecTV to pull channel RT America from its lineup due to its affiliations with the Russian government. This decision has been put into immediate effect, accelerating an already arranged expiration of the programming distributor’s contract with the channel, predicted to have occurred this year. Staff was laid off Thursday, March 3rd.

This represents a push towards eradicating Russian state-sponsored programming in America. RT America is still available on Dish TV, though recently has been restricted of access due to technical failures. It is uncertain whether this implies Dish TV, in regards to DirecTV, will be pulling the channel as well from its lineup.