Antiwar Protester Who Interrupted Russian TV News Broadcast Flees House Arrest
HAVANA TIMES – In Russia, a former TV news producer whose on-air antiwar protest was seen around the world has escaped house arrest. Marina Ovsyannikova made international headlines in March after she burst onto the set of a live news broadcast of Channel One, the Russian state media channel, appearing on screen for several seconds shouting “Stop the war! No to war!” before the camera cut away. In August, Russian police raided Ovsyannikova’s home and placed her on house arrest for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian Armed Forces. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.
On Monday, Ovsyannikova posted a video online from an unknown location, declaring herself innocent and showing off an electronic tag around her ankle used by Russian authorities to track her location.
Marina Ovsyannikova: “Esteemed colleagues of the Federal Penitentiary Service, put an electronic tag like this on Putin. It is he, not I, who should be kept away from society and put on trial over the genocide of the people of Ukraine and the mass killing of Russian men.”