Marina Ovsyannikova “does not want to leave” Russia. A Russian journalist who became a muse against the war after denouncing the offensive in Ukraine on a pro-Kremlin news program has turned down Emmanuel Macron’s offer of asylum.
“I am a patriot, my son even more so. We don’t want to leave under any circumstances, we don’t want to go anywhere,” she said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel on Wednesday evening. The French president said on Tuesday he was ready to offer him “consular protection” either at the embassy or by giving him asylum.
The 43-year-old made a name for herself by bursting into live Monday night during Russia’s most watched television news on Channel One, where she is a producer, with a sign criticizing the military operation in Ukraine and condemning the “propaganda” of the government-controlled media.
Risk of harsh jail time
After her arrest, she was immediately sentenced to a simple fine and 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.
“This is a war against brotherly people!” No sane person can accept this,” says the young woman, who was born in Odessa, Ukraine to a Ukrainian father and Russian mother. She believes that her coup “was first and foremost a pacifist action: it is in the interests of Russia and the world to put an end to this war as soon as possible.” “I also wanted to show that the Russians are also against this war, which many people in the West do not understand. Most of the smart and educated people here are against this war,” she said. Finally, she points out that she prepared her actions alone without talking to her family or friends first.