Russian TV Editor Detained For Holding No War Placard During Live Show

Russian television news editor Marina Ovsyannikova recently ran into the frame during one of the live segments and stood behind a woman anchor with a placard that had no war written in bold on it. The placard also had a message of dissent against the Russian President Vladimir Putin-led war with Ukraine.

The incident took place during the live broadcast of the nightly news of March 14 evening on state-run Channel One. Along with the placard, she ran into the frame shouting, "Stop the war. No to war." The sign held by Ovsyannikova read, "Don't believe the propaganda. They're lying to you here. The sign also had a line in English, which read, "Russians against the war."

Meanwhile, the anchor kept reading the news from the teleprompter louder than before to drown the slogan by Ovsyannikova. But she stood her ground and made her message visible to the people watching the show in Russia and across the world. Her message even reached the war-torn land of Ukraine, wherein President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked her for the courageous act.

Zelensky said, "I'm thankful to those Russians who don't stop trying to deliver the truth, who are fighting against disinformation and tell real facts to their friends and families, and personally to that woman who went in the studio of Channel One with an anti-war poster."

Suggested Reading: Who Is Natalya Sindeyeva? Russian Newswoman Says “No To War” Walks Out Of Studio

Russian Editor Holds No War Placard

It was after seconds of her protest that the channel switched to a recorded segment. Ovsyannikova also released a pre-recorded video through the OVD-Info human rights group. In the video, she stated that she was ashamed to be working at Channel One, which is one of the news channels that is spreading the "Kremlin propaganda."

She said, "Regrettably, for a number of years, I worked on Channel One and worked on Kremlin propaganda, I am very ashamed of this right now. Ashamed that I was allowed to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I was allowed the zombification of the Russian people. We were silent in 2014 when this was just beginning. We did not go out for protest when the Kremlin poisoned Navalyn (the opposition leader Alexei Navalny)."

In the video statement, she said that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian. She also urged Russians to join the anti-war protests and bring a stop to the "madness."

Ever since Russia began its military operation in Ukraine to allegedly disarm the country, the state has put tighter control on the media. Earlier this month, a law was passed that made it illegal to call the actions by the Russian Military an "invasion."

Reportedly, the Russian media have started to build the image of Ukraine as the aggressor and suggest that the country is being run by the "neo-nazis." Russia has also blocked many social platforms thus limiting the reach of news to people.

(Feature Image Credit: Bernie Sanders/ Twitter)