LONDON — A news broadcast on Russian state television that was crashed by an anti-war protester has become a symbol of Moscow’s determination to control the domestic narrative on its invasion of Ukraine and of the risks some Russians are taking to voice their opposition.
During a live segment Monday on “Vremya,” one of the most-watched Russian news shows, journalist Marina Ovsyannikova could be seen walking up behind a seated anchor and holding up a white poster with the words “No war” in English. Below, in Russian, were the phrases, “Stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.”
The program, which airs on state-controlled Channel 1, quickly cut away to another shot, silencing Ovsyannikova’s protest in a country where journalists must follow the state line on the Ukraine war or risk imprisonment.
