EXCLUSIVE State TV Protester Tells Russians: Open Your Eyes To War Propaganda In Ukraine

Marina Ovsyannikova, a Channel One employee who staged a live protest as she held an anti-war placard behind a studio host, addresses members of the media as she exits a courthouse in Moscow, Russia on March 15, 2022, in this still image taken from a video . REUTERS TV via REUTERS

LONDON, March 16 – A Russian woman who stormed a TV studio to denounce the war in Ukraine during a live newscast told Reuters on Wednesday that she was worried for her safety and hoped her protest would open Russians’ eyes to the propaganda.

In her first TV interview since the extraordinary live protest on Channel One on Monday night, Marina Ovsyannikova said she had no plans to flee Russia and hoped she would not face criminal charges.

“I believe in what I have done, but now I understand the scale of the problems that I will have to face, and, of course, I am extremely concerned about my safety,” Channel One editor Ovsyannikova told Reuters. .

“I don’t feel like a hero at all … You know, I really want to feel that this sacrifice was not in vain, and that people will open their eyes.”

She was fined 30,000 rubles ($280) on Tuesday, hours after the Kremlin condemned her act of protest as “hooliganism.” More

Reuters sent a written request to the Home Office asking for further comments on her case and to know if the trial is closed.

Ovsyannikova told Reuters that she wants not only to protest against the war, but also to speak directly to the Russians: “Don’t be such zombies, don’t listen to this propaganda, learn to analyze information, learn to find other sources.” information – not only Russian state television.

Reuters message; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan

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