An employee of the Russian Channel One stormed the news studio today, Monday, during the broadcast of the evening news, which is the most watched in Russia, to raise a banner behind the anchor denouncing war in Ukraine.
Ovsyanikova appeared behind news anchor Yekaterina Andreeva as she read out a report on relations with Belarus, waving a handwritten banner “No to war” in English.
The banner also carried phrases in Russian that read, “Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. They lie to you here,” with the signature in English of “Russian citizens against war.”
Ovsianikova managed to repeat some phrases in Russian, including “stop the war”, while Andreeva, who has been presenting the news since 1998, tried to cover it up by raising her voice, before the channel moved to show other scenes.
arrest her
In turn, Channel One said in a statement, quoting the state news agency, TASS, that “an incident occurred related to an outsider woman who appeared on the screen, and an internal investigation is underway.”
TASS quoted a police source as saying that the woman had been arrested and could be charged under a law prohibiting actions aimed at “discrediting” the Russian armed forces.
OVDinfo published a video clip in which Ovsyanikova stated that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian, and she does not consider the two countries to be enemies.
“Unfortunately in recent years I worked for Channel One in the industry for the Kremlin and now I am very ashamed of that,” she added.
A video of the incident spread quickly on social media, with many users praising the “extraordinary courage” of the woman against the backdrop of the severe crackdown on dissent.