Claire Reid
A journalist who appeared on Russian TV with a sign protesting the war has reportedly appeared in court over the incident and could face up to 10 days in prison.
Marina Ovsyannikova staged her one-woman protest during a live report on Russian TV.
According to the BBC’s Will Vernon, she is now in court in Moscow, charged with organising an unauthorised public event, and faces a fine of up to 30,000 roubles (around £200), or community service, or up to 10 days in jail.
Ovsyannikova appeared during the evening news report on state-run TV broadcaster Channel One.
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While the reporter was speaking, Ovsyannikova ran onto the set behind the news presenter and held up a sign reading, 'Stop the war, Don’t believe propaganda, They’re lying to you'.
The newsreader continued with her report without responding, while Ovsyannikova stood behind her shouting, 'Stop the war, no to war'.
In a video filmed by Ovsyannikova shortly before the incident, she condemned the war and Russian president Vladimir Putin and apologised for her work on the Kremlin-controlled news channel, which has broadly covered up news of the invasion. "I've been doing Kremlin propaganda and I'm very ashamed of it – that I let people lie from TV screens and allowed the Russian people to be zombified," she said.
'Now the whole world has turned away from us, and ten generations of our descendants won't wash off this fratricidal war,' she said, as she called for people to take to the streets to protest the war, concluding the video by saying 'they can't arrest all of us.'
After the clip of her interruption went viral online, concerns were raised over Ovsyannikova’s whereabouts, with earlier reports from today suggesting she had disappeared.
Her lawyers told the BBC they had been looking for their client but were unable to find her.
One claimed the Russian authorities were ‘hiding her from her lawyers and trying to deprive her of legal assistance’.
Earlier today, lawyer, Pavel Chikov, posted on Twitter to say: "Marina Ovsyannikova has not yet been found. She has been imprisoned for more than 12 hours."
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