BERLIN, February 4. /TASS/. The Moscow bureau of Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW) media company has been officially notified about its closure, DW said on its website on Thursday.

According to the company, "the chief of Deutsche Welle’s Moscow office, YuryResheto, said he had received an official notification about the DW office’s closure tomorrow (on February 4), at 9:00 local time."

DW Director General Peter Limbourg said earlier in the day that the company would take legal measures to appeal the closure. He described the move as "inexplicable" and "excessive."

In turn, the company said its TV channels, DW English and DW Deutsch, have been broadcast in Russia since 2005. "The broadcasting permission for DW English is valid until 2025, for DW Deutsch - until 2027," the company said.

Germany’s union of journalists, DJV, has called upon Russian President Vladimir Putin to cancel the move. It asked the German government to express its "clear protest" against the decisions made by the Russian side.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced earlier that Moscow was shutting down Deutsche Welle’s news bureau in Russia as the first stage of retaliatory measures following the German regulator’s move to ban RT DE in Germany. Other measures will include the withdrawal of credentials from all staff members at Deutsche Welle’s Russian bureau and the launch of a process aimed at identifying Germany’s government and public agencies involved in banning RT DE from broadcasting and putting other kinds of pressure on the Russian media outlet, who will eventually be barred from entering Russia. Moscow’s measures also include a procedure to consider if Deutsche Welle should be declared a foreign media outlet acting as a foreign agent. At some point, Russia intends to fully halt Deutsche Welle’s broadcasts in the country.

On Wednesday, Germany’s media watchdog banned RT DE from broadcasting its German language programs in the country, citing the lack of a necessary license.