Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ukraine crisis: News anchor speaks out against Russian aggression during live broadcast on state-funded TV channel

 

Ian Johnston
Tuesday 04 March 2014 20:10 EST
Comments
Russia Today anchor Abby Martin voiced her personal views live on air
Russia Today anchor Abby Martin voiced her personal views live on air (Russia Today)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A journalist working for the state-funded Russia Today news channel spoke out against Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine during a live broadcast – and was promptly ordered to Crimea by the station.

Abby Martin, who works as a news anchor in Washington, told viewers that “Russia was wrong”.

She admitted that she did not “know as much as I should about Ukraine’s history or the cultural dynamics of the region”.

“But what I do know is that military intervention is never the answer,” she said on her Breaking the Set show.

“All we can do now is hope for a peaceful outcome to a terrible situation… until then I’ll keep telling the truth as I see it.”

Shortly afterwards Russia Today said it was sending her to Crimea to “better her knowledge” of the crisis.

But Ms Martin, who said she had editorial independence on her programme, told The Daily Telegraph that she was not going to go.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in