Russian law-enforcement officers said Christoph Wanner, a Deutsche Welle correspondent in Moscow, was detained in Chechnya's capital, Grozny, and deported to neighboring Daghestan for lack of accreditation.
Darius Cierpialkowski, head of Deutsche Welle in Moscow, said: "Christoph Wanner was detained in Grozny, but he had the accreditation of the Russian Interior Ministry to work in the area of counterterrorism operations."
"Wanner was filming a report about the work of the German [NGO] organization Hammer Forum, which is helping refugees in Chechnya," Cierpialkowski said, adding that the journalist was filming in the presence of official representatives of the organization or its partners.
Russian authorities said the correspondent was not authorized to work in the area.
"The correspondent penetrated the counterterrorism operation zone without a required permit or escort, and was photographing various facilities," a law enforcement spokesman said.