The Pervi Kanal journalist interrupted the main Russian TV news programme with a message opposing the war in Ukraine.
Within a few hours, her gesture went around the world. Russian journalist Marina Ovsiannikova held up a sign in the middle of the news on Russian television denouncing the war in Ukraine. Since then, accounts in her name have proliferated on social networks. Also, the presence of Chechen fighters alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, especially those led by President Ramzan Kadyrov, is fuelling rumours by bringing back images from the past.
Her appearance in the middle of Russia’s main TV news programme immediately made her a global icon, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday 15 March, Russian journalist Marina Ovsiannikova was released by her country’s authorities after being fined $30,000.
The fine amounts to 30,000 roubles, or about 250 euros, and relates solely to the video message that Ovsiannikova posted on social networks. In it, recorded before her appearance on the news, the producer denounced the “crime” committed by Russia in invading Ukraine.
