A woman burst into Russia’s most-watched newscast on Monday night with a sign criticizing the military offensive in Ukraine, an extremely rare scene in a country where information is strictly controlled.
The NGO defending the rights of protesters OVD-Info, which presents this woman as Marina Ovsiannikova, an employee of the chain, reported that she had been arrested and taken to the police station.
Don’t believe the propaganda
The scene took place during the main evening news program of the most powerful television channel in the country, Pervy Kanal, dubbed “Vremia” (“the time”), a daily appointment followed by millions of Russians since the Soviet era.
While the famous presenter Ekaterina Andreyeva is speaking, Marina Ovsiannikova appears behind her with a sign that reads “No to war. Don’t believe the propaganda. You are being lied to here.”
“The Russians are once morest the war”, can we still read on the sign on which the flag of Ukraine and that of Russia are drawn.
Imperturbable, the presenter continues to speak for a few seconds while the protester chants “stop the war”then the channel hastens to broadcast a report on hospitals, ending the live broadcast on the set.
Possible heavy penalties
“An internal investigation is being carried out” on this “incident“, said Pervy Kanal laconically in a press release.
According to the Tass news agency, the young woman might be prosecuted for having “discredited the use of Russian armed forces”.
The Russian government recently passed several laws providing for heavy sentences of up to 15 years in prison for the dissemination of what the authorities consider to be “false information” regarding the army.
