Journalist protests on live broadcast and her whereabouts are unknown

On Monday, journalist Marina Ovsyannikova broke into a live broadcast of the First Channel of Russian state television, behind the newscaster, shouting and holding a sign against the invasion of Ukraine. One day after the unusual protest, her whereabouts are uncertain.

“NOT TO THE WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. Here they are lying to you”is the phrase denouncing the poster held by the journalist, in English and Russian.

Before the protest, Ovsyannikova recorded a video explaining her reasons and, in addition, said she felt ashamed of having “worked for several years at Perviy Kanal (First Channel) and in Kremlin propaganda and telling lies on the television screen.”

“What is happening in Ukraine is a crime. Russia is the aggressor country. The responsibility lies with one person: Vladimir Putin” (…) We did not go out on the streets when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny. We have only silently observed this inhumane regime. And now the whole world has turned its back on us, and another ten generations will not be able to remove the stain of this war.”are some of the phrases he released in his video.

After the break-in, the journalist was transferred from the television facilities in Ostankino to police stations, according to information collected by El País de España.

According to the OvdInfolive portal, an NGO defending those arrested for the protests in Russia, the journalist can be accused of a crime of “falsity” in relation to the actions of the Russian army, contemplated in the criminal code of the Russian Federation and affirms that , under the reform approved by the Duma on March 4, could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

The portal also reports that the whereabouts of the journalist is unknown.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today described Ovsyannikova’s attitude as a “hooligan”: “As for this woman, it’s an act of vandalism. The channel and the respective agencies are investigating it.”

But it is not the only case, another journalist, according to the EFE news agency, Lilia Gildeeva, who worked for the same channel since 2006, left Russia and wrote a letter of resignation from abroad.

“At first I left, I was afraid they just wouldn’t let me go, then I wrote a statement,” Gildeeva said in her message, which she sent to Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov today.

Gildeeva had been working for the channel since 2006 and in the past her professional career was recognized by the Russian president himself, Vladimir Putin.

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