Russian court fines journalist £200 for anti-war protest on live TV

A Russian court fined a journalist 30,000 roubles (£200) after she interrupted a state TV live news bulletin to protest against Russia’s continuing onslaught on Ukraine.

Marina Ovsyannikova ran into the studio and held a sign behind newsreader Yekaterina Andreyeva while she was on-air on Monday night.

Ms Ovsyannikova, editor of Kremlin-run Channel 1, held the poster so that it was visible in the broadcast.

It read: “Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. Here they are lying to you.”

Ms Ovsyannikova also shouted slogans – such as “stop the war” – in condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s decision last month to invade Ukraine.

Her handmade sign was clearly visible for a few seconds before the live broadcast cut to a pre-recorded report.

Shortly before she was fined, a court in Moscow had found her guilty of flouting protest legislation, state-run Russian news agency RIA reported.

After she had burst into the studio, she was reported missing by lawyers who said they had been searching for her throughout the night.

Later, an image circulated widely by Russian media appeared to show Ms Ovsyannikova in court with lawyer Anton Gashinsky.

Before the incident she had recorded a video in which she called events in Ukraine a “crime” and said she was ashamed to work for what she called Kremlin “propaganda”.

She said in the video: “I’m 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, who said her father was Ukrainian, has called on Russian civilians to protest against the war, saying that only they could “stop the madness”.

“Don’t be afraid of anything, they can’t imprison all of us,” she said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “thankful” that Ms Ovsyannikova did not “abandon attempts to tell the truth”.

Russian journalists must “fight” in their “chance” to prevent Russia from becoming like North Korea, he said.

The Kremlin dismissed the editor’s actions as “hooliganism”, and suggested that Ms Ovsyannikova could face further consequences.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “The channel and those who are supposed to will get to the bottom of this.”

UN human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani praised “this very courageous journalist”.

She told a news briefing in Geneva: “We would urge the authorities to ensure that she does not face any reprisals for exercising her right to freedom of expression.”

Almost 15,000 people have been detained across Russia during anti-war protests since the invasion was launched on 24 February, according to a tally kept by OVD-Info, an independent protest-monitoring group.

Ms Shamdasani said it was not clear how many of the 15,000 people remained in detention, adding: “We do not have access to those who are detained, unfortunately.”

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