Ukraine war: Journalist who protested on Russian TV detained

A Russian journalist who broke into a live television news program to protest the war in Ukraine was reported missing overnight.

Marina Ovsyannikova, editor of the state-controlled Channel 1, was arrested after she ran onto the set on Monday with an anti-war sign.

The banner, clearly visible for a few seconds, read: “No to the war, stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, here they are lying to you.”

His whereabouts are now unknown.

Ms. Ovsyannikova’s lawyer, Pavel Chikov, posted on Twitter that he was unable to find his client.

“Marina Ovsyannikova has not been found yet. She has been imprisoned for more than 12 hours,” he said Tuesday morning.

He said the initial police investigation “provides no grounds for arrest and imprisonment.”

Police arrested her over a new law that prohibits calling Russia’s military action in Ukraine an “invasion” or spreading “fake news” about the conflict.

Although the strictest punishments carry a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years, Chikov said Ovsyannikova is likely to be fined between 30,000 and 60,000 rubles (£205-£410).

During the protest, which took place live on Russia’s main evening news program, Ms. Ovsyannikova said: “No war! Stop war!” before the show’s director cut early to a taped news report.

Before the incident, he recorded a video in which he called the events in Ukraine a “crime” and said he was ashamed to work for what he called Kremlin propaganda.

“I am ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the TV screen. I am ashamed that I allowed the Russians to become zombies,” she explained. “We just silently watch this inhumane regime.”

Ms Ovsyannikova, who said her father was Ukrainian, called on the Russian people to protest against the war, saying only they could “stop the madness”.

“Don’t be afraid of anything, you can’t jail all of us,” he said.

From the moment Ms. Ovsyannikova’s identity became known, she received dozens of comments on her Facebook page in Ukrainian, Russian and English, thanking her for her actions.

Ukraine’s President Zelensky also praised her for “telling the truth.”

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called his actions an act of vandalism.

Russian television news has long been controlled by the Kremlin and independent viewpoints are rare on all major channels.

Russian state-controlled media refer to the war as a “special military operation” and paint Ukraine as the aggressor, describing Ukraine’s elected government as neo-Nazis.

Several of the remaining independent media outlets in Russia have stopped broadcasting or publishing due to pressure from the authorities, including Moscow’s Echo radio station and TV Rain, an online television channel.

Others, like the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, try to report on the situation without breaking the new censorship laws.

Access to the BBC has also been restricted within Russia, prompting the corporation to broadcast guidance on how to continue using your services.

Russia’s media watchdog accused the BBC and other foreign broadcasters of “deliberate and systematic circulation of materials containing false information.”

Many social networking sites have also been blocked, further restricting the number and diversity of news sources available to people inside Russia.

Facebook and Twitter have been restricted for several days, while Instagram, which is particularly popular in Russia, was blocked on Monday, although many Russians have found ways around the restrictions.