A top editor at Russia’s leading TV news network crashed a live television show to heckle Vladimir Putin and expose media “propaganda.”
Maria Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One Russia, rushed the set of a live broadcast holding a sign in Russian and English to warn the viewers.
She later released a taped message denouncing Putin and his war.
Ovsyannikova ran on the screen with a sign reading “NO WAR” while yelling in Russian “No to war, stop the war.”
She was swiftly detained by police and will now likely suffer severe consequences after Russia passed new laws cracking down on dissent from the media.
Her sign in Russian said: “Stop the war! Don’t believe propaganda! They’re lying to you here.”
It also said “Russians against war” written in English.
The broadcast immediately cut away but not before she got her message across to the viewers.
! Russia’s main propaganda “news program” tonight. pic.twitter.com/lrRVnF8LoW
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 14, 2022
The anchor, Ekaterina Andreeva, is a very well-respected figure in Russian media.
Ovsyanikova filmed a video before her protest that her friends released on social media.
She said:
“What is currently happening in Ukraine is a crime. Russia is a country-aggressor.”
“All responsibility for this aggression lies on the conscience of one person: Vladimir Putin.
“My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian. They were never enemies.
“This necklace around my neck signifies that Russia should immediately stop this fratricidal war and our brotherly nations can make peace with each other.
“Unfortunately, for the last several years I worked at Channel One, promoting Kremlin propaganda and for that I am very ashamed right now.
“I am ashamed that I allowed lies to be told from TV screens, that I allowed Russian people to be zombified.
“We stayed quiet when all of this was just getting started in 2014.
“We didn’t come out to protest when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny.
“We continued to quietly watch this inhumane regime.
“Now the whole world turned away from us.
“Ten generations of our descendants won’t be able to wash away the shame of this fratricidal war.”
Ovsyannikova also appears to have recorded a video beforehand in which she blames Putin for the war and apologizes for her work on Russian state TV news. pic.twitter.com/VuoqtJWcIY
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 14, 2022
“Unfortunately, for the last few years I’ve been working for Channel One. 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.”
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 14, 2022
