Marina Ovsyannikova is one of many Russians who are protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Monday evening, Ovsyannikova interrupted the broadcast of Russian state TV’s flagship Channel One News, chanting “Stop the war,” holding a sign, and denouncing government “propaganda.”
The New York Post referred to her actions as “a striking moment of public protest as the Kremlin cracks down on any criticism of its invasion of Ukraine.”
The sign Ovsyannikova held included the phrases, “Don’t believe the propaganda” and “you are being lied to,” written in Russian.
The moment was captured on several platforms and quickly went viral on social media.
The human rights group OVD-Info reports that Ovsyannikova was subsequently detained and taken into custody by Russian authorities, according to the Washington Post.
Before entering the studio, Ovsyannikova reportedly recorded a video noting that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian. In the video message, she referred to the invasion of Ukraine as a “crime” and urged the Russian people to join her in protesting the unlawful action.
After being questioned by Russian authorities for more than 14 hours and fined the equivalent of $280 U.S. dollars, Ovsyannikova spoke with the BBC and said that Russians are “zombified” by propaganda, according to The Daily Wire
“I understand it’s very hard… to find alternative information, but you need to try to look for it,” Ovsyannikova said.
“I was aware that if I went to protest in [Moscow’s] central square, I would be arrested like everyone else and thrown into a police van and be put on trial.”
Ovsyannikova continued, “Half the poster was in Russian, half the poster was in English. I really wanted to show the Western audience that some Russians are against war.”
“I feel of course, some responsibility lying on me. I was an ordinary cog in the propaganda machine. Until the very last moment, I didn’t think about it too much,” she said.
Feeling the need to defend herself against the misinformation swirling about her, Ovsyannikova said:
“There are lots of conspiracy theories building up about me on the subject of accusations made against her in Russian media. That’s why I had to explain to the world what really happened, the fact that I am just a normal Russian woman, but I could not remain on the sidelines.”
Ovsyannikova continued: “Russia is the aggressor. The responsibility for this aggression lies on the conscience of only one person and this person is Vladimir Putin,” she said in a pre-recorded video.
“My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian, and they were never enemies.”
Ovsyannikova was an editor at the news station. Her protest may have inspired many, but likely cost her job:
“I am ashamed that I allowed [Channel 1] to tell lies from the TV screen. I am ashamed of letting Russian people get zombied,” Ovsyannikova said. “We just quietly watched this antihuman regime.”
Possibly because Ovsyannikova is a TV personality with a relatively high-profile, Russian authorities exercised discretion when handling her case, choosing to discredit more than punish her.
The Kremlin dismissed Ovsyannikova’s protest as being akin to “hooliganism.”
“As far as this woman is concerned, this is hooliganism,” said Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson.
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