Woman protests against the war on Russian state TV

Created: 03/15/2022Updated: 03/15/2022 07:26

In Russia, the media is forbidden from calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine a "war" or "invasion" - a woman did just that in a news program. © Axel Heimken/dpa

"No to war!": An employee of the Russian state television disrupts a news program with a protest poster.

She gets praise for her courage all over the world - in her homeland she is arrested.

Moscow - With a protest poster and loud shouts, an opponent of the war on Russian state television caused the main evening news program to be interrupted.

During the live broadcast on Monday at 9 p.m. Moscow time (7 p.m. CET), the woman suddenly jumped into the picture behind news anchor Yekaterina Andreyeva, holding a sign that read “Stop the war.

Don't believe the propaganda.

Here you will be lied to".

She shouted out loud several times: "No to war, no to war, no to war!"

The transmission then broke off and pictures from a hospital were shown.

Action previously announced

According to Russian media reports and journalists, the woman's name is Marina Ovsyannikova and she is an employee of the state broadcaster.

A previously recorded video circulated online, in which she said she was ashamed of years of spreading Kremlin propaganda.

"What is happening in Ukraine is a crime."

Only Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible for the aggression.

She called on her compatriots to protest against the war.

"It's up to us to stop all this madness." The authorities couldn't lock everyone up.

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The video excerpt from the news broadcast immediately spread on social networks.

Above all, Russian oppositionists praised the woman for her courage.

"What courage really means," wrote pianist Igor Levit on Twitter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked her.

In Russia, the media is forbidden from calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “war” or an “invasion.”

Instead, there is official talk of a "military special operation".

Arrest after performance

According to media reports, the woman is an employee of state television who is said to have previously announced her protest action on social networks.

She is said to have given as a reason that her father was Ukrainian and that the war against the neighboring country was a "crime" for which Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin was responsible.

The woman is said to have given the reason that her father was Ukrainian and that the war against the neighboring country was a "crime".

© --/Twitter/dpa

She is said to have been arrested.

In a statement, the first Russian television channel only spoke of an "incident" during the "Vremya" program and announced an internal review.

Civil rights organizations want to help

Lawyers from the civil rights organization IWD-Info could not have contacted the woman more than ten hours after the protest, wrote the ex-editor-in-chief of the closed radio station Echo Moskwy, Alexei Venediktow, on Twitter.

The camp of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny wants to support the woman.

They want to take over the penalties that could be imposed on them, wrote Maria Pewtschich from Navalny's organization FBK on Twitter.

In Russia, alleged misinformation about the Russian armed forces faces high penalties of up to 15 years in prison.

The war in Ukraine is described in the state media as a "military special operation".

dpa