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Marina Ovsyannikova

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Marina Ovsyannikova
Ovsyannikova (right) holding up a placard during a live TV news broadcast in March 2022
Born19 June 1978 Edit this on Wikidata
Odesa Edit this on Wikidata
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist, editor Edit this on Wikidata
Employer

Marina Vladimirovna Ovsyannikova[a] (Russian: Марина Владимировна Овсянникова; née Tkachuk (Ткачу́к))[1] (born 1978 in Odessa)[2] is a Russian journalist who was employed on the Channel One Russia TV channel.[3] She worked for Russia's main evening newscast Vremya since beginning of the 2000s.[4][5] In 2022, she interrupted a state-controlled Russian TV news broadcast to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which made international news headlines. She was arrested, held without access to her lawyer, fined, and later released.

Early life and career

Ovsyannikova was born in 1978 in Odessa, now Ukraine.[5] Her mother is Russian and her father is Ukrainian.[6] As a child, she practised swimming and artistic gymnastics.[1] Together with her swimming team, she won the Krasnodar championship at university level competitions.[1]

Ovsyannikova graduated from the Kuban State University and later from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). She worked for the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK). Since 1997, she was a journalist for the "Kuban" TV channel (a regional subsidiary of VGTRK), and a favourite of its head Vladimir Runov, who is claimed to have helped her enter RANEPA.[5] At the start of the 2000s, after moving to Moscow, she was hired for Channel One Russia's main evening newscast Vremya, thanks to the protection of her husband Igor Ovsyannikov, now a director in Russia Today.[5] In 2002, she gave an interview to the Yuga.ru news site.[1]

Anti-war protests

See also: Protests against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Shortly after this part, broadcasting switched to a pre-recorded feature on a medical topic[3]

Ovsyannikova initially supported Putin, but images of the war in Ukraine brought back memories of the war she experienced as a child in Chechnya. She had planned to protest near the Kremlin, but later decided it was not very useful.[7]

On 14 March 2022, during a live broadcast related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the evening news programme Vremya, which had millions of viewers, she appeared behind the news anchor, Ekaterina Andreeva, carrying a poster stating in a mix of Russian and English:[8][9]

Ukraine No War Russia
Остановите войну, не верьте пропаганде, здесь вам врут.
[Stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, here you are being lied to.]
Russians against war

Ovsyannikova shouted:

Остановите войну! Нет войне! [Stop the war! No war!]

After a few seconds, the broadcast cut away to a recorded segment.[10][8][9] The recording of the news program was not available for download, which is uncommon for this TV channel.[10][11][12] The protest was unusual as the state-operated program does not deviate from the Kremlin line of a "special military operation", and viewers had previously not been told that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a war.[3]

Pre-recorded message

After Ovsyannikova's on-air protest, Russian human rights group OVD-Info posted a video she had pre-recorded on Telegram.[13] In the video, she stated that she was "ashamed of working for Kremlin propaganda":[8][9][14][15][16][17][18]

"What is happening in Ukraine is a crime. Russia is an aggressor country and the responsibility for this aggression rests on the conscience of only one person. That person is Vladimir Putin. My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian, and they've never been enemies. This necklace I'm wearing is a symbol of that fact that Russia must immediately end this fratricidal war and our fraternal peoples will still be able to reconcile. Unfortunately, I've spent the last few years working for Channel One, doing Kremlin propaganda, and I'm very ashamed of this. Ashamed that I allowed lies to be broadcast from TV screens. Ashamed that I allowed others to zombify Russian people. We were silent in 2014 when all this started. We didn't protest when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny. We just silently watched this inhuman regime at work. And now the whole world has turned its back on us. And the next 10 generations won't wash away the stain of this fratricidal war. We Russians are thinking and intelligent people. It's in our power alone to stop all this madness. Go protest. Don't be afraid of anything. They can't lock us all away."[15][18][b]

Reactions

Denis Zakharov, an anti-war activist, on the night of 15 March 2022, in front of the Ostankino television center. He is waiting for the detained Marina Ovsyannikova to express his words of support and give her a bouquet of flowers.

Clips of Ovsyannikova's protest were widely shared around the world and attracted substantial global media coverage.[19]

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ovsyannikova during one of his broadcasts.[10][20] French president Emmanuel Macron offered Ovsyannikova protection at the French embassy or through asylum while Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to her protest as "hooliganism."[19][21][22]

Russian opposition politician Lev Schlossberg said, "Five seconds of truth can wash away the dirt of weeks of propaganda." Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin described Ovsyannikova as a "hero of Russia".[23] The detained Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny lauded Ovsyannikova for her defiance during his final statement in court.[24][25]

The BBC reported that Ovsyannikova's protest had drawn attention to a gradual stream of resignations from Russian state-run TV, with three others emerging within hours.[26]

Consequences

Ovsyannikova was detained and taken to Ostankino police station.[9][27] Her lawyer was not able to contact or even locate her for more than 12 hours. The morning after the broadcast, her whereabouts were still unknown.[28] It was reported Ovsyannikova may face up to 15 years in prison under Russia's disinformation laws about the Ukrainian invasion.[29]

On the morning of 15 March, a post was made from a Twitter account using her name saying that she did not regret anything and that she was under house arrest. The account was determined to be fake and had been deleted by noon.[30][31][32][33]

Later on 15 March, the Twitter account of Kevin Rothrock, an editor at Meduza, posted a picture showing Ovsyannikova with Anton Gashinsky, a human rights lawyer, in court.[34] For the video posted on Telegram Ovsyannikova was charged with organizing an unauthorized public event and fined 30,000 rubles ($280, £200 or €255).[13][35] Russian government-controlled news agency TASS reported that Russia's Investigative Committee was also investigating Ovsyannikova for the on-air protest on charges of publicly spreading "false information" about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[36][13] Under a new law passed on 4 March, she could be prosecuted for calling the invasion of Ukraine a war instead of the government's euphemism "special military operation" and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.[9][13][37]

On 17 March, Ovsyannikova quit her job on Channel One Russia.[38]

Personal life

As of 2022, Ovsyannikova lives in New Moscow [ru; he; uk] (the former southwest sector of Moscow Oblast appended to Moscow in 2012) with her two children.[18][39][40] She is married to Igor Ovsyannikov, a television director for RT.[5][41] The couple are reported by one source as being "recently separated".[40] She has relatives in Ukraine, but she does not have much contact with them.[38]

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Vladimirovna and the family name is Ovsyannikova.
    [citation needed]
  2. ^ Ovsyannikova refers to her parents as well as to her necklace in the colors of the Russian and Ukrainian flags to symbolize that Ukrainians and Russians are not enemies and to urge Russia to stop the fratricidal war.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Зырянов, Никита (2022-03-14). "Журналистка и выпускница КубГУ вышла с пацифистским плакатом во время прямого эфира новостей на Первом канале" [A journalist and graduate of KubSU came out with a pacifist poster during a live news broadcast on Channel One]. Yuga.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  2. ^ https://tass.ru/proisshestviya/14068301
  3. ^ a b c Shevchenko, Vitaliy (2022-03-15). "Ukraine war: Protester exposes cracks in Kremlin's war message". BBC. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  4. ^ Sivtsova, Sasha; Reiter, Svetlana; Bashkirov, Semyon (2022-03-16). "'Everyone knows they're lying'". Meduza. Abridged translation by Kevin Rothrock.
  5. ^ a b c d e ""Все без исключения понимают, что врут"" [Everyone, without exception, understands that they are lying]. Meduza (in Russian). 2022-03-15.
  6. ^ "Kuppet russisk TV-sending med antikrig-budskap" [Russian TV broadcast Couped with anti-war message]. Verdens Gang. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  7. ^ "EXCLUSIVE State TV protester tells Russians: open your eyes to Ukraine war propaganda". Reuters. 2022-03-16.
  8. ^ a b c Ilyushina, Mary; Knowles, Hannah (2022-03-15). "Employee bursts onto live Russian state TV to denounce war: 'They are lying to you here'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  9. ^ a b c d e Troianovski, Anton (2022-03-14). "A protester storms a live broadcast on Russia's most-watched news show, yelling, 'Stop the war!'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  10. ^ a b c Sauer, Pjotr (2022-03-14). "'They're lying to you': Russian TV employee interrupts news broadcast". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  11. ^ "Редактор Первого канала Марина Овсянникова ворвалась в прямой эфир Первого канала с плакатом "Остановите войну, вам здесь врут"" [The editor of Channel One, Marina Ovsyannikova, broke into the live broadcast with a poster "Stop the war, they are lying to you here"]. The Insider (in Russian). 2022-03-14.
  12. ^ "Russian state TV editor interrupts live news broadcast with anti-war message". Meduza. 2022-03-14.
  13. ^ a b c d Safronova, Valeriya (2022-03-15). "A Russian TV worker who protested the war on a live broadcast is fined". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  14. ^ Reevell, Patrick (2022-03-14). ""I'm ashamed I allowed lies to be spoken from the TV screen. Now ten generations of our descendants won't wash off the disgrace of this fratricidal war. We're Russian people, thinking, intelligent. It's only in our power to stop this insanity,"". ABC News, twitter.com.
  15. ^ a b "Ukraine: As It's Happening". The Moscow Times. 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  16. ^ "Russian Woman Interrupts Live State News Broadcast To Send Message to Putin". Newsweek. 2022-03-14.
  17. ^ "Anti-war protester in studio disrupts live Russian state TV news". Reuters. 2022-03-14.
  18. ^ a b c Марина Овсянникова, сотрудница "Первого канала", в эфире программы "Время" появилась с антивоенным плакатом [Marina Ovsyannikova, an employee of Channel One, appeared on the air of the Vremya program with an anti-war poster]. В мире (In the world). newsru.co.il (in Russian). новости Израиля (Israel News). 2022-03-15 [2022-03-14]. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15. То, что сейчас происходит на Украине - это преступление. И Россия - страна-агрессор. И ответственность за это преступление лежит только на совести одного человека. И этот человек - Владимир Путин. Мой отец - украинец, моя мать - русская. И они никогда не были врагами. И это ожерелье на моей шее […] - символ того, что Россия должна немедленно остановить братоубийственную войну и наши братские народы еще смогут примириться. К сожалению, последние годы я работала на Первом канале, занимаясь кремлевской пропагандой, и мне сейчас очень стыдно за это. Стыдно за то, что позволяла говорить ложь с экрана телевизора. Стыдно за то, что позволяла зомбировать русских людей. Мы промолчали в 2014 году, когда все это только начиналось. Мы не вышли на митинги, когда Кремль отравил Навального. Мы просто безмолвно наблюдали за этим античеловеческим режимом. И сейчас от нас отвернулся весь мир. И еще десять поколений наших потомков не отмоются от позора этой братоубийственной войны. Мы, русские люди - думающие и умные. Только в наших силах остановить это безумие. Выходите на митинги, ничего не бойтесь, они не могут пересажать нас всех.
  19. ^ a b "Marina Ovsyannikova: Russian journalist tells of 14-hour interrogation". BBC. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  20. ^ Breivig, Espen Moe; Lyngstad, Håkon Kvam (2022-03-15). "Zelenskyj advarer Norge og Europa: − Vi er alle russiske mål" [Zelensky warns Norway and Europe: - We are all Russian targets]. Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  21. ^ "Macron offers shelter for Russian editor held over TV protest". France 24. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  22. ^ "Kuppet TV-sending: Russisk journalist møtte i retten" [Couped TV broadcast: Russian journalist appeared in court]. Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  23. ^ Shevchenko, Vitaliy (2022-03-16). "Ukraine war: Protester exposes cracks in Kremlin's war message". BBC News.
  24. ^ "Anti-War Protester Fined After Disrupting Russian News Program". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  25. ^ "'This will lead to our country's collapse' Alexey Navalny's address to the Russian public as the state seeks new charges against him". Meduza. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  26. ^ "Russia's state TV hit by stream of resignations". BBC News. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  27. ^ "Russia outlaws spreading 'fake news' about the Russian military with fines and prison". Poynter. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  28. ^ Bowman, Verity (2022-03-15). "Missing for 12 hours: the Russian TV presenter Marina Ovsyannikova who said no to war". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  29. ^ Rose, David (2022-03-15). "Marina Ovsyannikova: Fears for Russian journalist who denounced lies live on TV". The Times. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  30. ^ "Redaktør braut inn i direktesending på statleg russisk TV" [Editor broke into live broadcast on Russian state television]. NRK. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  31. ^ Davies, Rachael (2022-03-15). "Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova: Why was the Russian journalist arrest and what was the Russian news protest?". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  32. ^ Hall, Stephen (2022-03-15). "Putin's Russia: how the ex-KGB strongman has gradually turned the clock back to Soviet repression". The Conversation. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  33. ^ Green, David Allen (2022-03-15). "The fake Twitter account of "Marina Ovsyannikova" – and how to spot such fakes". David Allen Green. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  34. ^ Lyngstad, Håkon Kvam (2022-03-15). "Russisk journalist skal være avbildet i retten" [Russian journalist should be pictured in court]. Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  35. ^ "Russian court fines woman for anti-war protest on state TV". Reuters. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  36. ^ "The Badass Russian TV Producer Who Crashed a Newscast Is Free—For Now". Vice. 2022-03-15.
  37. ^ "Marina Ovsyannikova: Russian journalist in court after TV protest". BBC. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  38. ^ a b Hebel, Christina (2022-03-17). "Interview with Russian TV Protester Marina Ovsyannikova: "I'm Enemy No. 1 Here Now"". Der Spiegel (online). Moscow, Russia. Archived from the original on 2022-03-18. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  39. ^ "Адвокаты не могут найти редактора программы "Время", которая ворвалась в эфир с антивоенным плакатом" [Lawyers cannot find the editor of the Vremya program, who broke into the broadcast with an anti-war poster]. news.israelinfo.co.il (in Russian). 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  40. ^ a b ""Don't be jealous!" Social networks assessed the act of Marina Ovsyannikova differently". Novye Izvestia. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  41. ^ Соснина, Мария; Гандрабура, Юрий (2022-03-14). "Муж женщины, выбежавшей с плакатом во время эфира на Первом канале, работает на Russia Today" [The husband of the woman who ran out with a poster during the broadcast on Channel One works for Russia Today]. 93.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-15.
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