Deutsche Welle fell victim to the Kremlin's censorship even before the Russian army attacked Ukraine.

On February 3rd she had to close her studio in Moscow.

That was the Kremlin's retaliation for the broadcasting ban ordered by the Berlin-Brandenburg media authority against the Russian state broadcaster RT DE.

RT DE has no licence, can no longer be received to a large extent, but circumvents the broadcasting ban.

As reported by the journalists' association Reporters Without Borders (RSF), it was at least possible to regain access to Deutsche Welle's Russian-language website on Friday.

With 4.4 million visitors per month, the site is one of the most popular news portals, with around two million hits most recently coming from Russia.

RSF used a method that creates an exact copy of the website ("mirror site").

This is placed on international servers, which also contain other services and information.

So if Russia wants to attack the Spiegel websites, the regime may harm itself by also blocking its access to its own content.

The same method was used ten days ago in the declassification of Medusa, an independent Russian news site that was also censored.

Growing resentment

The Moscow editorial office of Deutsche Welle will remain in Riga, Latvia for the time being.

Deutsche Welle has been producing the Russian-language satirical program “Zapovednik” there in cooperation with a Latvian production company for several years.

Thanks to the practiced cooperation, Deutsche Welle was able to quickly rent office space and technical equipment.

Yuri Rescheto, previously studio manager in Moscow, will start working in Riga with three other colleagues in April.

"The official closure of our office in Moscow in no way prevents us from reporting on the growing discontent of the population in Russia and the desperate propaganda of the Kremlin," said Peter Limbourg, director of Deutsche Welle, a few days ago at a meeting of the broadcasting council of the station.

Twenty correspondents, producers and cameramen reported from the Ukraine, says director Limbourg.

The journalists work in Kyiv, Lemberg, Odessa and various locations in western Ukraine.

The correspondents are also broadcast live on Deutsche Welle's English-language news, which is broadcast on DW's Russian and Ukrainian channels.

There are also correspondents who report from Poland, Romania and Moldova.

Offers on social media

"There is also contact with Russian journalists via a protected exchange of messages, who forward information to their colleagues," said DW spokesman Christoph Jumpelt.

Despite the broadcasting ban imposed by Moscow, Deutsche Welle can still be reached by a Russian audience.

The Russian population can continue to use social media offerings, such as the weekday news program “Novosti” at 5 p.m. on YouTube, the Telegram news channel and the DW channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to find out more.

Some Russian users avoid blocking foreign media using VPN connections or the Tor network.

With a freely accessible website, however, Deutsche Welle can reach many more people.

The Broadcasting Council praised the reporting from Ukraine.

The commitment of the DW employees is exemplary.

The safety of journalists who are in the war zone is also a top priority, said director Limbourg.

Five employees have now left Ukraine with their families.

You are now supporting the Russian-Ukrainian editorial team at Deutsche Welle's Bonn headquarters.

DW is an important channel, particularly for Ukrainian refugees, and is often the only available source of information that reports in their native language.

For example, the telenovela “Nico's Weg” is popular – a mock German course produced by DW Akademie, which is also offered in Ukrainian.

The Russian-language media offer is also met with great interest in Belarus.

The regime in Minsk also blocks Deutsche Welle broadcasts, and as in Russia, audiences find them in a roundabout way.

The federal government has increased the subsidy for Deutsche Welle for 2022 by 13.5 million euros.

The budget of German international broadcasting is now 404 million euros.