Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who became an anti-war muse after she denounced the offensive in Ukraine on a pro-Kremlin news program, will leave Channel One of her own accord, she said Thursday. “Today I went to Ostankino (the headquarters of the channel), sent all the documents for dismissal according to my decision,” she said in an interview with France 24 continuous information channel.
“Traitor”, according to Russia
Marina Ovsyannikova made a name for herself by bursting into Russia’s most watched live news program Monday night on Channel One with a poster criticizing Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine and denouncing government-controlled media “propaganda”. She explained that she wanted to “send a strong signal to say that the Russians are against the war, that we should not trust propaganda and what we say on television, and that we should distinguish between lies and truth.”
“I’m scared, of course, but I don’t think I’m part of the scum,” she defended herself when asked about the official discourse against anti-war activists in Russia. According to the Kremlin, the conflict in Ukraine shows who the “traitors” in Russia are. “Someone is leaving, someone is leaving the country. This is a cleansing,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
She refuses to leave her country
For the protesting journalist, “the people who take to the streets to protest are not traitors, but citizens.” “Russian society is divided, maybe half are against the war, and half support President Putin,” she said. This 43-year-old mother of two also turned down an offer of asylum by French President Emmanuel Macron because she “doesn’t want to leave” her country.