Russia-backed cable news station RT America shuts down operations immediately amid Ukraine invasion

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia March 3, 2022.

According to a memo obtained by CNBC, the U.S. cable news network stopped operations immediately and laid off almost all of its staff.

The English-language sister network of the Russian state-owned news channel is calledRT America. A person familiar with the matter says that more than 100 employees were told their employment will end on May 3.

As a result of unforeseen business interruption events, T&R Production will be shutting down production and laying off most of its staff who work at all of its locations.

The decision to stop carrying the show was made by the largest U.S. satellite-TV operator. The network was removed from the Roku Channel Store.

According to a person familiar with the matter, management told employees to come back to the office at noon Thursday for more information after they found out there would be no live programming. The person said that the news director informed employees of the shutting down immediately.

Some employees were surprised by the news. They speculated that program cutbacks could follow the actions taken by the two companies, but didn't expect a full-scale shutdown, two of the people said.

CNN reported the immediate closing ofRT America.

The operation in Ukraine is going according to plan.