The European Court of Justice has thrown out a request by the French arm of Kremlin-backed Russia Today that would have allowed it to remain on the air.
European sanctions were brought in at the beginning of March amid concerns that the channel was spreading disinformation on the war in Ukraine.
The ban suspended operations in France, Germany and Spain. It also had the knock-on effect of removing the pro-Putin station from satellites broadcasting to the UK, where Ofcom later made its own decision to remove the channel.
The interim ruling is expected to be followed later by a full judgement.