The Russian television producer who staged an extraordinary anti-war protest live on national television said she was “fearful for my safety” but would not “take a single word back” from her statement criticising Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“I don’t regret one bit what I did,” Marina Ovsyannikova told the Guardian in a phone interview on Wednesday. “I will not take a single word back. These are my views.”
Ovsyannikova, who was a senior producer at Russia’s state-run Channel One, staged her protest on air on Monday night when she waved a sign reading: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.”
She also released a pre-recorded video in which she expressed her “shame” at working for Channel One and spreading “Kremlin propaganda”.
Ovsyannikova told the Guardian that her anger with Russia’s political direction had been growing over “the last few years.”
“First they cancelled the governor elections, then they started to ban independent media, then they poisoned [opposition leader Alexei] Navalny. My anger kept on growing. I was experiencing cognitive dissonance, the country wasn’t going in the right direction.
“The war was the last drop and I decided to act,” she said.
In a separate interview with Reuters, she added: “I believe in what I did, but I now understand the scale of the problems that I’ll have to deal with and, of course, I’m extremely concerned for my safety.”
She told Reuters her actions were intended to send a direct message to the Russian public: “Don’t be such zombies, don’t listen to this propaganda. Learn how to analyse information, learn how to find other sources of information, not just Russian state television.”
A Russian court fined Ovsyannikova 30,000 roubles (£215) on Tuesday for her recorded video in which she violated protest laws. The decision was met with relief by friends and supporters who feared the authorities were preparing serious criminal charges after she disappeared into police custody for nearly 24 hours after her arrest. She has not yet been prosecuted for her live protest on Channel One.
Ovsyannikova said that she managed to get some rest this morning and that she was on her way to meet her lawyers.
“Of course, the situation is very tense. Everything is still unfolding in front of our eyes. I am worried,” she said.
The Guardian earlier learned that Ovsyannikova had outlined her protest plan to a friend the day before, having become increasingly angry about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She also told her friend she was fully aware of the consequences her actions would have on her and her family.
Since the start of the war, Russia has launched an unprecedented crackdown on protesters, independent news outlets and foreign social media networks. Russian parliament earlier this month passed a law imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally “fake” news about the military. On Wednesday, the country’s investigative committee said it had launched three criminal cases against people for spreading what it called fake news about the Russian army on Instagram and other social media.
