Marina Ovsyannikova is seen here (in a still from video uploaded March 14, 2022) making a statement recorded before she held up an anti-war sign live on air.
Marina Ovsyannikova via Reuters
Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian journalist who protested the war in Ukraine live on state television, has told international media that she remains patriotic to her country and refuses to leave the country despite fears of severe backlash from the authorities.
Speaking from behind the scenes, Ovsyannikova said she would not accept an offer of asylum from French President Emmanuel Macron, despite describing herself as “Enemy No. 1” in Russia’s efforts to crack down on anti-war dissent.
“I don’t want to leave Russia. I’m a patriot,” she told German news site Der Spiegel.
“Of course I’m scared. I’m even very scared… Anything could happen – a car crash, anything they want,” she added, referring to the Kremlin.
The editor of Russia’s state channel One made headlines last week after listening to a live newscast holding a sign denouncing aggression in Ukraine and shouting “stop the war”.
The 43-year-old was later fined 30,000 rubles ($280) by a Russian court for a video she recorded ahead of the on-air protest showing her own role in the broadcast denounced by “Kremlin propaganda”. But Ovsyannikova said she worries worse consequences could follow.
“I’m enemy number one here now,” she said, noting that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the act “hooliganism,” referring to rumors that senior officials had called for criminal charges.
In life you have to react and often make complicated decisions.
In Russia, calling the invasion of Ukraine a war is now illegal under a new law aimed at cracking down on public dissent. The law, which also makes it illegal to discredit the Russian army, carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Ovsyannikova, who is half Ukrainian and half Russian, has not been further charged. She said she believed she would have been jailed for 15 days straight away if she hadn’t had children – a son, 17, and a daughter, 11 – but she was still “very worried” about her future.
Ovsyannikova said her son, himself a patriot, took her measures particularly harshly, accusing her of “destroying our lives.” She said she hopes that in time he will understand her gesture.
“I explained to him that in life you have to react and make choices that are often complicated,” she told France 24.
For the past 13 years, Ovsyannikova has worked on the foreign news desk of Channel One, a state broadcaster watched by millions and sticking closely to the Kremlin line.
She told CNN it has become increasingly difficult to follow the party line in her work as she has observed Russia’s increased aggression over the years, including the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
“I felt more and more of a cognitive dissonance between my beliefs and what we say on the air,” Ovsyannikova said. “The war was the point of no return when it was simply impossible to remain silent.”
While acknowledging that she could have joined a public protest, Ovsyannikova told ABC she believes she could do something “more meaningful with more impact.” So far, more than 15,000 people have been arrested in Russia for protesting against the war.
Only now did she become aware of the “far-reaching consequences” of her actions.
I am ashamed that I allowed myself to lie from the TV screen.
In the video recorded before her broadcast, Ovsyannikova directly blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the war. She also stressed her shame at her own role in broadcasting “Kremlin propaganda.”
“Responsibility for this aggression rests on the conscience of one person. That man is Vladimir Putin,” she said.
“I am ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the TV screen, I am ashamed that I allowed Russians to be turned into zombies,” she added.
Ovsyannikova told Der Spiegel she was “happy” to read that her protest was followed by a string of resignations from Russian journalists, including top TV presenters: Zhanna Agalakova from Channel One and Lilia Gildeeva and Vadim Glusker from NTV.