Deutsche Welle's (DW) operations in Russia have been closed a day after Moscow told the German broadcaster it was revoking accreditations following a move by Berlin that banned broadcasts by Russia's RT DE channel because it did not have a proper license.
DW said on February 4 that its correspondents in Moscow had stopped working and returned their credentials, as mandated by the Russian Foreign Ministry, even though the German broadcaster has a valid license. So far, the DW journalists have not been asked to leave the country, it added.
"It clearly came as a huge shock for all of us," said Irina Filatova, who works for DW's Russian service in Germany that was still broadcasting on February 4.
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"We clearly expected some measures after RT was banned in Germany. But we never expected that these retaliatory measures by the Russian authorities would be so hard.... We never expected that our Moscow studio would be closed and all our colleagues working in Russia would lose accreditation."
The tug-of-war comes amid rising tensions between the West and Moscow over Russia's buildup of tens of thousands of troops in areas around the border with Ukraine. Germany, among many countries, has called on the Kremlin to de-escalate the situation by pulling its soldiers and hardware back from the border.
It also comes as Russia cracks down hard on independent media -- mainly local -- after the expulsion of several Western journalists.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on February 4 that Moscow was open to resolving the conflict, but would also escalate it if Berlin made any further moves.
The dispute began on February 2, when a German media regulatory panel ruled that RT DE must cease broadcasting its German-language programs in the country, reaffirming a ruling in December that said RT lacked the necessary license for the broadcasts.
SEE ALSO: Media Regulatory Commission Backs Ban Of RT's German-Language ServiceRT claims a license it holds in Serbia for satellite transmission gives it the right to broadcast in Germany under a Council of Europe agreement to which both countries are party.
The next day, Russia announced its retaliatory measures, and added that moves will be initiated to start a procedure to officially label DW a "foreign agent" and to bar German officials and other individuals involved in the decision to ban RT's broadcasting in Germany from entering Russia.
Deutsche Welle has called the Russian move "absurd" and says it is being made a pawn "in a way that media only have to experience in autocracies."
Launched in 2005 as Russia Today, state-funded RT has continually expanded its broadcasts and websites in languages including English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.
The channel has been banned in several countries, including the ex-Soviet republics, now EU and NATO member-states, Lithuania and Latvia.
In the United states, it was required to register as a foreign agent, and British authorities have threatened to revoke its broadcasting license.
DW, a German state-owned broadcaster, has its service available in 30 languages, including Russian.