Russian journalist who held ‘no war’ sign on live broadcast says she was questioned for 14 hours

The Russian journalist who interrupted a state TV news bulletin to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine has spoken about her fears for her safety, after revealing she was interrogated for 14 hours by the authorities.

Marina Ovsyannikova ran into the news studio of Kremlin-run Channel One and held up an anti-war sign behind newsreader Yekaterina Andreyeva while she was on air on Monday evening.

In her first television interview since the extraordinary incident, Ms Ovsyannikova, the editor of the channel, told Reuters she was worried for her wellbeing. She also expressed her hope that her fellow citizens would come to see the Kremlin’s narrative about events in Ukraine as propaganda.

She added that she had no plans to flee Russia and hoped she would not face criminal charges.

Ms Ovsyannikova earlier told reporters that she had been questioned for 14 hours and alleged she was not given any legal help. She was fined 30,000 (£214) roubles on a charge of organising an unauthorised public event.

“The interrogation lasted for more than 14 hours, I wasn’t allowed to get in touch with my family or friends, I was denied access to a lawyer,” Ms Ovsyannikova said after her court hearing.

“It was my anti-war decision. I made this decision by myself because I don’t like Russia starting this invasion. It was really terrible,” she added.

The Russian journalist had pleaded not guilty to the charges of organising an unauthorised public event.

Images of Ms Ovsyannikova’s holding up the anti-war sign were quickly shared worldwide.

The sign read: “No war, stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.”

She was also heard repeating the words “no war, stop the war.”

Ms Ovsyannikova’s whereabouts were also not known for a while until lawyer Anton Gashinsky shared a photo of him with her in the court.

Before she interrupted the news bulletin on state TV, she had recorded a video in which she said: “I am ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I allowed Russians to be turned into zombies. We just silently watched this inhumane regime.”

Ms Ovsyannikova was born in Odesa in 1978 and has two children, according to local news media.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky also praised the Russian journalist for “telling the truth.”

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov termed her actions as an act of “hooliganism”.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here.

To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.