She doesn’t “want to leave” her country. Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who was arrested for lively condemning the invasion of Ukraine, refused asylum offered by French head of state Emmanuel Macron.
“I am patriotic and my son is even more so,” the 43-year-old told German publication Der Spiegel on Wednesday evening. We don’t want to leave, we don’t want to go anywhere.
On Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron offered the journalist “consular protection” either at the embassy or by giving him asylum.
The proposal follows a 1940s Monday night protest on Channel One, during the most watched TV news in Russia. Producer of the latter, she held up a banner condemning the invasion of Ukraine and the Moscow-controlled media.
“primarily a pacifist action”
Arrested and then fined, she was released. However, she remains at risk of criminal prosecution, including long prison terms under the terms of a recently passed law prohibiting any “false information” about the Russian military.
Born to a Ukrainian and Russian mother, the journalist criticized the “war against the brotherly people.” She also added that her intervention “was primarily a pacifist action: it is in the interests of Russia and the world to end this war as soon as possible.”
Marina Ovsyannikova also wanted to demonstrate “that the Russians are also against this war, which many in the West do not understand. Most of the smart and educated people here are against this war.”
According to her, her fellow journalists “constantly internally struggle between their work and their own moral compass.” However, they have to “feed their families” and “they know that in the current political climate they will not find other work.”
According to her, in recent days, several Russian journalists from public channels have resigned to demonstrate their opposition to the restrictions on information.