A brave protester interrupted an evening broadcast on Russian state TV network Channel One on Monday with a sign blasting President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
“Stop the war. No to war!” the woman shouted as she lifted up a sign reading, “Don’t believe propaganda. They’re lying to you.”
After a clip of the broadcast quickly went viral on social media, human-rights group OVD-Info identified the woman who stormed the studio as Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One. She’s already been detained by police, the group said.
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Ovsyannikova recorded a video before the protest, saying she was ashamed about her work for the channel and declaring, “What is going on in Ukraine is a crime,” according to a translation provided by The Washington Post.
“Unfortunately, I have been working at Channel One… working on Kremlin propaganda,” she says in the message. “And now I am very ashamed. I am ashamed that I’ve allowed the lies to be said on the TV screens… that I let the Russian people be zombified.”
Ovsyannikova added that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian.
“Take to the streets. Do not be afraid. They can’t jail us all,” she urges Russians at the end of the video.
The editor’s Facebook page was soon filled with comments praising her bravery. “You are a hero to me! Thank you!” one person wrote, according to the Post.
Channel One is one of Russia’s most popular state-run channels and pushes Putin’s propaganda about the war in Ukraine. According to Tass news agency, the network said it’s conducting an “internal review” of the outburst.
Earlier this month, Russia passed a law criminalizing reports on the invasion that are at odds with the government’s official narrative, threatening journalists with up to 15 years behind bars.
In the first two weeks of the war alone, Russia arrested at least 13,000 demonstrators for speaking out against the invasion, which has led to the deaths of nearly 600 civilians, including 43 kids, according to the United Nations.
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