Marina Ovsyannikova’s outstanding act of defiance, which saw her burst onto the set of Channel One during the Vremya news show – watched by 250 million viewers globally – and interrupt famous anchor Ekaterina Andreeva to protest the war in Ukraine on March 16 inspired the world.
Detained by guards shortly after the courageous stunt, lawyers spent nearly 24 hours looking for Osyvannikova before she finally appeared on Tuesday evening in Moscow’s Ostankino district court. She has since been fined 30,000 rouble (£214) and released from court after pleading not guilty to the charge of organising an unauthorised public event.
“These were indeed some of the hardest days of my life,” she told reporters following the short hearing for which she wore a black blazer and necklace in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. “I spent two days without sleep. I was questioned for more than 14 hours. They didn’t allow me to reach my family or give me any legal aid. I was in a fairly difficult position.”
As one of the most senior staff members at Channel One, who’s worked for several years in the Directorate of Information Programs, Ovsyannikova was able to bypass armed guards and run behind newsreader Andreeva shouting: “Stop the war. No to war.” With a sign that read: “Don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here." As Andreeva, who has hosted the Vremya newscast for more than two decades, continued to read her script.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently passed legislation which prevents the spread of what the Kremlin calls “fake news” about the country’s military. It has led to multiple Russian independent media outlets being forced to shut down and journalists fleeing the country. The ultimate punishment is up to 15 years in prison, which some are fearful Ovsyannikova could yet still face because she was fined for the video statement that was posted after the protest, rather than for breaking onto the Channel One set.
“There are still risks that a criminal case will be opened against Ovsyannikova, but the chances of that have sharply decreased after the fine that she received today,” said Pavel Chikov, the head of Agora International Human Rights Group. “No case has been opened yet against her performance, and the prosecutor’s office might still decide to do so,” he continued. “But, the fact that she has already received a quick punishment indicates that a political decision has been made not to persecute her further.”
Understandably, Ovsyannikova is being labelled the bravest woman in Russia for her inspirational – and dangerous – stunt. Already her actions have been praised by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during his Monday night address. He said he was “grateful” for Russians who fight to tell the truth, and that he was grateful “to the lady who walked into the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war.”
British MPs are now lobbying for Ovsyannikova to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and 46,000 users who have showered her Facebook page with messages of respect and adoration. Before her sentencing, French president Emmanuel Macron even offered Ovsyannikova consular “protection” and said he would raise her case with Vladimir Putin.
The 43-year-old is a mum of two, whose ex-husband Igor Ovsyannikov is a long-time director at Russia Today. Before her TV career, Ovsyannikova was a competitive swimmer who crossed the Volga river in Russia and the Bosphorus waterway in Turkey. She was born in a Ukrainian Black Sea port called Odesa, which is now preparing for Russian attack. Ovsyannikova earned a bachelor’s degree from Kuban State University and a master’s degree from Russia’s Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
⚡️The girl with the ani-war poster is "Channel One" editor Marina Ovsyannikova. She's already been arrested
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 14, 2022
Before going on air, the girl recorded a video message in which she condemned the war in #Ukraine and stated that she was ashamed of her propaganda activities. pic.twitter.com/cMraAQCw5R
Her family upbringing was a key reason behind Ovsyannikova’s courageous act of defiance. "My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian, and they were never enemies,” she said in a pre-recorded video that was uploaded to her Facebook by the OVD-Info human rights group shortly after she barged onto Channel One. “What is happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor. Responsibility for that aggression lies on the conscience of only one person. That person is Vladimir Putin,” she continues while wearing a necklace in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.
In days gone by, Channel One might have been viewed as an ideal job for Russian journalists, according to Cynthia Hooper, a Russia expert at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, “now those same positions involve really nothing more than very, very deep complicity in fabricating stories designed to bolster the Putin regime, fuel popular hatred against purported outsider enemies, and convey support for criminal and destructive government policies,” she told The Atlantic earlier this year. “People seem nervous аbout going off script, or even аbout what, exactly, their script is supposed to be,” she continued, further highlighting the bravery of Ovsyannikova’s actions.
“Unfortunately, for the past years, I worked аt Channel One, where I was involved in Kremlin propaganda. I’m extremely embarrassed,” Ovsyannikova continues in the pre-recorded video. “I’m ashamed because I let the TV screen tell me lies. I’m ashаmed because I let the Russians become zombies.”
Ovsyannikova goes on to mention the channel’s collective silence over the 2014 poisoning of the anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, which the Russian opposition figure accused Putin of being behind. “We did not show up for protests,” Ovsyannikova laments, “this was just something we were quietly observing.”
Several prominent journalists have reportedly left their positions at state media since Ovsyannikova’s protest, including one Zhanna Agalakova and Vadim Gluser from Channel One and NTV respectively. For Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst and founder of R Politik, this is indicative of the amount of discontent inside of the system. “Either right now this wave comes to nothing. Or we can see similar protests more and more often – these vocal, desperate acts where people make similar gestures.”
Whether Ovsyannikova is completely out the clear of further Russian state sentencing, one thing’s for sure: her courageous actions have sparked a wave of resistance both at home and abroad.
