Published: 15.03.2022 – 06:21
A woman burst into the air on the evening of Monday, March 13, during the broadcast of Russia’s most watched television news with a sign criticizing the military offensive in Ukraine, which is extremely rare in a country where information is tightly controlled.
According to the public organization for the protection of the rights of demonstrators OVD-Info, this woman, who broke into the news program of the first Russian channel, is called Marina Ovsyannikova. This is a network employee. The NGO said she was arrested and taken to the police station.
The scene took place during the main evening news program of the country’s most influential television channel, Channel One, dubbed “Vremya” (“Time”), a daily meeting that has been attended by millions of Russians since Soviet times.
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While the well-known presenter Ekaterina Andreeva is speaking, Marina Ovsyannikova appears behind her with a sign “No to war. Don’t believe the propaganda. You are being deceived here.” “Russians against the war” – can we still read on the signboard, on which the flags of Ukraine and Russia are painted.
Absolutely amazing. During the evening news release of Channel One, a woman ran onto the set with a sign: “No to war… Do not believe the propaganda. Here you are being lied to. pic.twitter.com/wBdFGtzTsg
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) March 14, 2022
The deadpan host continues to speak for a few seconds as a protester chants “no war”, then the channel rushes the broadcast of the hospital report, ending the live broadcast on the set. “An official investigation is underway” on this “incident,” the First Channel statement laconically says.
According to the TASS agency, the girl may be prosecuted for “compromising the use of the Russian armed forces.”
In a previously published video published by OVD-Info, Marina Ovsyannikova explains that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian, she does not see enemies in these two countries. “Unfortunately, for the past few years I have been working on Channel One, doing propaganda for the Kremlin. I am very ashamed of this today,” she said. “I am ashamed that I allowed lies to be broadcast on television, I am ashamed that I allowed the Russian people to be “zombified,” she adds.
The video went viral on social media like wildfire, with many netizens hailing the woman’s “courage” in the context of the brutal crackdown on all forms of dissent. In an attempt to control all information about the conflict, the authorities blocked most of the still independent media, as well as major social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
(with AFP)