A brave Russian TV editor risked her freedom and life to interrupt a state channel’s live broadcast by holding up a sign calling for an end of the war in Ukraine.
Amid Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of brave Russians stood up to the dictator and got arrested for expressing their opinion and calling for an end to war.
The latest – and perhaps the most renowned – Russian citizen to risk her life and freedom to stand up for what she believes in is Russian TV editor Marina Ovsyannikova.
During a live broadcast by TV channel Pervyi Kanal [Channel One], Marina stormed the stage and hoisted an anti-war sign behind the evening news host.
The sign read: “Stop the war! Don’t believe propaganda! They’re lying to you here! Russians against war.”
After just a few seconds, the producers cut the live broadcast and switched to a news report to secure enough time to remove the TV editor.
It was later reported that Ovsyannikova was arrested and accused of “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintain international peace and security.”
Shortly before her stunt in the studio and her arrest, Marina expressed her frustration over the invasion of Ukraine and Kremlin propaganda.
“What’s happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor. The responsibility for this aggression lies with one man: Vladimir Putin,” she said.
“My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian and they were never enemies. Unfortunately, for the last few years I’ve been working for Channel One.
“I’ve been doing Kremlin propaganda and I’m very ashamed of it – that I let people lie from TV screens and allowed the Russian people to be zombified.”
She added: “We didn’t say anything in 2014 when it only just began. We didn’t protest when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny. We just silently watched this inhuman regime.
“Now the whole world has turned away from us, and ten generations of our descendants won’t wash off this fratricidal war.”