A woman burst into Russia’s most-watched newscast on Monday night with a sign criticizing the military offensive in Ukraine, an extremely rare scene in a country where information is strictly controlled.
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The NGO defending the rights of protesters OVD-Info, which presents this woman as Marina Ovsiannikova, an employee of the chain, reported that she had been arrested and taken to the police station.
The scene took place during the main evening news program of the country’s most powerful television channel, Pervy Kanal, dubbed “Vremia” (“the time”), a daily appointment followed by millions of Russians since the Soviet era.
As famed presenter Ekaterina Andreyeva speaks, Ms. Ovsiannikova appears behind her with a sign that reads “No to war. Don’t believe the propaganda. You are being lied to here”.
“The Russians are against the war”, can we still read on the sign on which the flag of Ukraine and that of Russia are drawn.
Imperturbable, the presenter continues to speak for a few seconds while the protester chants “no to war”, then the channel rushes the broadcast of a report on hospitals, ending the live broadcast on the set.
“An internal investigation is being conducted” on this “incident”, Pervy Kanal said laconically in a statement.
According to the Tass news agency, the young woman could be prosecuted for having “discredited the use of the Russian armed forces”.
In a video recorded previously and published by OVD-Info, Ms. Ovsiannikova explains that her father being Ukrainian and her mother Russian, she cannot see the two countries as enemies.
“Unfortunately, I worked for Pervy Kanal for the past few years, doing propaganda for the Kremlin. I am very ashamed of it today,” she said.
“I am ashamed of having allowed lies to be broadcast on television, ashamed of having allowed the Russian people to be ‘zombified’,” she adds.
The video has spread like wildfire on social networks, many Internet users hailing the “courage” of this woman, in a context of brutal repression against any form of dissent.
In their attempt to control all information about the conflict, the authorities have blocked most of the still independent media, as well as the main social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook.
As a result, most Russians only have access to the version issued by the government and the media, including Pervy Kanal, of a “special military operation” aimed at “denazifying” Ukraine and preventing a “genocide”.