Feb 3, 2022: In retaliation for Germany’s ban on Russian broadcaster RT, Russia has banned German-language channel Deutsche Welle (DW).

Russia has said it is shutting down the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle’s Moscow bureau and revoking staff approvals in Russia, following a ban by Berlin on the German-language channel of the Russian state television network RT.

The announcement comes amid growing tensions between Russia and the West, especially over fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine, a European ally.

The closure also highlights the Kremlin’s growing opposition to foreign media in the wake of numerous high-profile expulsions of prominent foreign journalists. Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it would “cut off Deutsche Welle’s satellite and other broadcasts” on Russian soil.

The moves comes after Germany’s broadcasting regulator on Wednesday announced it was banning the transmission of the channel RT DE over the lack of a broadcasting licence. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move was an “infringement” on freedom of speech, while RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan called the decision “complete nonsense”.

The German version of the Russian broadcaster, RT DE was blocked from Europe’s satellite network on December 22 at the request of German authorities, less than a week after going on air. But it was still available over the internet and via a mobile app.

Subsequent to which, RT DE said it was broadcast from Moscow and had a Serbian broadcasting licence, which it said gives it the right to broadcast in Germany under European law.

The German regulator meanwhile said the channel was based in Berlin and did not have a “legitimate permit under European law”.

In August, Moscow expelled a veteran BBC correspondent in retaliation for a Russian correspondent being denied accreditation by London.

Russia last year slapped a number of media outlets and journalists with the “foreign agent” label that requires them to carry out tedious administrative procedures.

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