Russian state media journalist arrested after protesting war on live TV

A Russian state television employee interrupted Monday’s live evening news broadcast to protest the Kremlin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine before being arrested by Russian authorities amid what human rights groups have called an “unprecedented, nationwide crackdown on independent journalism, anti-war protests and dissenting voices” in Russia.

During a live broadcast, Channel One employee Marina Ovsyannikova burst into the frame holding a sign that read “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They are lying to you here” and shouting anti-war slogans while program anchor Ekaterina Andreeva attempted to read the news, the Washington Post reported.

According to the Russian Agora human rights group, Ovsyannikova faces up to 15 years in prison under a new law which prohibits the discrediting of the Russian Armed Forces.

The law, which passed on March 4, prohibits public actions which discredit the military and bans the spread of “fake news” or the “public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”

As of Tuesday morning, Ovsyannikova’s lawyers warned that the dissident’s whereabouts remain unknown and her lawyers have not been able to speak with her.

Ms Ovsyannikova is being supported by Pavel Chikov, a human rights lawyer, who posted to Twitter that he was searching for his client.

💬“Marina Ovsyannikova has not yet been found. She has been imprisoned for more than 12 hours,” he said pic.twitter.com/qfCKb5xwt8

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 15, 2022

“Marina Ovsyannikova has not yet been found. She has been imprisoned for more than 12 hours,” attorney Pavel Chikov said on Twitter, the Telegraph reported.

“The pre-investigation check does not provide grounds for detention and imprisonment,” he added.

Shortly before going on air, the young dissident – whose father is Ukrainian -- posted a video online where she described the shame she felt for helping spread Putin’s propaganda while working for Russian state media.

⚡️The girl with the ani-war poster is "Channel One" editor Marina Ovsyannikova. She's already been arrested

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

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 14, 2022

“What is happening now in Ukraine is a crime, and Russia is the aggressor country. The responsibility for that aggression lies on the conscience of only one man, and that man is Vladimir Putin,” she said.

“Now the whole world has turned away from us and the next 10 generations of our descendants will not wash away the shame of this fratricidal war,” she said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged Ovsyannikova’s bravery during his nightly broadcast and thanked the young woman for standing up against the Kremlin’s lies.

“I am grateful to those Russians who do not stop trying to convey the truth. To those who fight disinformation and tell the truth, real facts to their friends and loved ones,” Zelensky said. “And personally to the woman who entered the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war.”