Russian Journo Jailed For Gatecrashing Live TV Broadcast With Protest Against Putin

Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Russia’s state Channel One television, who was arrested for protesting against Vladimir Putin’s barbaric regime and the Ukraine invasion on a live television news program on Monday, has been fined and released following 14 hours of police interrogation.

Marina disrupted the set of the live nightly news broadcast on Monday evening, shouting: “Stop the war. No to war.” As part of her protest, the woman held a sign saying: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.” It was signed in English: “Russians against the war,” USA Today reported.

The news anchor for the nightly segment would then continue to read from her teleprompter and speak louder to drown out the protester, who continued with her chant for several seconds before the channel transitioned to a recorded segment.

Moreover, Ovsyannikova opted to work with the OVD-Info human rights group and released a pre-recorded anti-war video expressing her shame and regret at working for Channel One and spreading “Kremlin propaganda.”

“I am very ashamed of this right now,” she said in the video. “Ashamed that I was allowed to tell lies from the television screen, ashamed that I allowed the zombification of the Russian people. We were silent in 2014 when this was just beginning. We did not go out to protest when the Kremlin poisoned [opposition leader Alexei] Navalny.”

“What is happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor. The responsibility of this aggression lies on the shoulders of only one person: Vladimir Putin,” she continued, wearing a necklace in the colors of the Ukrainian and Russian flags, The Guardian noted.

Following her arrest, the journalist was taken to a Moscow police station and later held at the Ostankino television center, Pavel Chikov, head of the Agora human rights group, said.

She had not slept a wink for two days and was barred from contacting her legal representative and family. Ovsyannikova had pleaded not guilty to the charge of organizing an unauthorized public event.

Ovsyannikova said she was asked to pay $297.03 (30,000 Roubles) for the circulation of the video, where she also urged fellow Russians to join anti-war protests, according to the BBC. Initially, police said Ovsyannikova could face legal consequences for encouraging “civil unrest.”