Marina Ovsyannikova, symbol of this Russia which stands up to Vladimir Putin

Marina Ovsyannikova’s face has been around the world for a week. At 43, this journalist held up a poster opposing the war in the middle of the JT of the first Russian channel. “It was like an impulse. I ran to my office, the poster was in my jacket. I grabbed the poster and ran towards the studio. I unrolled it behind the presenter. I wanted to do something remarkable to tell the whole world that there were Russians who were against the war“, she says.

For nearly twenty years, this journalist worked for Russian state television. A media which, she assures, receives her orders from power. “All instructions come from the Kremlin and the management regularly gives instructions on what to say. Everyone knew it, so much so that my colleagues, when the news started, moved away from the screen and cut the sound“. Released after 14 hours of interrogation, she still faces 15 years in prison.