On October 8, 1939, "Radio Basarabia" (with own shows in Romanian and Russian) was launched in Chişinău by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company. A religious service was broadcast from the Nativity Cathedral at the launching of the first radio station in Chişinău. Emission power could be increased from 20 kW to 200 kW and the reception was possible in Moscow or Leningrad due to direct wave propagation. There were three studios, the biggest for symphony orchestras, choirs and opera band, the middle for chamber music and soloists, and the third allocated to lecturers and announcer, equipped with the most modern equipment. Radio Bessarabia had six services: the Secretariat, Technical Service, Service Programs, Administrative Service, Litigation department, and Commercial department. With the Soviet occupation in June 1940 most of the backup material, personnel and the archive were withdrawn at Huși, but not the transmitter. The Red Army blown up the building and the bodies of those who remained to work for the radio were found in a water well.