Marina Ovsyannikova
Marina Ovsyannikova | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 19 June 1978 ![]() Odesa ![]() |
Alma mater |
|
Occupation | Journalist, editor ![]() |
Employer |
|
Marina V. Ovsyannikova (Russian: Мари́на В. Овся́нникова;[1] née Tkachuk (Ткачу́к))[2] is a Russian anti-war protester and TV producer who was employed on the Channel One Russia TV channel, Russia's second most viewed channel.[3] She worked for Russia's main evening newscast Vremya since beginning of the 2000s.[4] 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.[4] Her mother is Russian and her father is Ukrainian.[5] 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 subsidary of VGTRK), and a favourite of its head Vladimir Runov, who is claimed to have helped her enter RANEPA.[4] 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.[4] In 2002, she gave an interview to the Yuga.ru news site.[2]
Anti-war protests
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1d/Marina_Ovsyannikova_14_March_2022_Protest.jpg/220px-Marina_Ovsyannikova_14_March_2022_Protest.jpg)
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:[6][7]
No War
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 войны! [Stop the war! No war!]
After a few seconds, the broadcast cut away to a recorded segment.[8][6][7] The recording of the news program was not available for download, which is uncommon for this TV channel.[8][9][10] 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
Ovsyannikova also posted a pre-recorded video on Telegram saying she was "ashamed of working for Kremlin propaganda":[6][7][11][12][13][14][15]
"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."[12][15][nb 1]
Ovsyannikova is the first Russian journalist to protest on air, although 20 journalists for RT had previously resigned in protest of the invasion.[16]
Reactions
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Ovsyannikova_Denis_Zakharov.jpg/220px-Ovsyannikova_Denis_Zakharov.jpg)
After the incident, the clip was widely posted on social media, including Facebook, Telegram and Twitter, and attracted substantial global media coverage.[citation needed]
On 15 March, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ovsyannikova during one of his broadcasts.[8][17]
French president Emmanuel Macron offered Ovsyannikova protection at the French embassy or thru asylum.[18][19][20]
Consequences
Ovsyannikova was detained and taken to Ostankino police station.[7][21] 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.[22] It was reported Ovsyannikova may face up to 15 years in prison under Russia's disinformation laws about the Ukrainian invasion.[16]
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.[23][24][25][26]
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.[27] Ovsyannikova was charged with organizing an unauthorized public event and fined 30,000 rubles ($280 or €255).[28] Russia's Investigative Committee is also investigating Ovsyannikova on charges of publicly spreading "false information" about the Russian military.[29] 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.[7][30]
Personal life
As of 2022[update], Ovsyannikova lives in New Moscow with her two children.[15][31][32] She is married to Igor Ovsyannikov, a television director for RT.[4] The couple are reported by one source as being "recently separated".[32][33]
See also
Notes
- ^ 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
- ^ Информация по делу № 05-1121/2022 [Information on case No. 05-1121/2022] (in Russian). Официальный портал судов общей юрисдикции г. Москвы (Official portal of courts of general jurisdiction in Moscow). Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b c "Ukraine war: Protester exposes cracks in Kremlin's war message". BBC News. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ a b c d e ""Все без исключения понимают, что врут"". Meduza (in Russian). 2022-03-15.
- ^ Kuppet russisk TV-sending med antikrig-budskap (tr. "Russian TV broadcast Couped with anti-war message") 15 March 2022 Verdens Gang accessed 15 March 2022
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Russian state TV editor interrupts live news broadcast with anti-war message". Meduza. 2022-03-14.
- ^ Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 14 March 2022 ("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,")
- ^ a b "Ukraine: As It's Happening". The Moscow Times. 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
- ^ "Russian Woman Interrupts Live State News Broadcast To Send Message to Putin". Newsweek. 2022-03-14.
- ^ "Anti-war protester in studio disrupts live Russian state TV news". Reuters. 2022-03-14.
- ^ 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. [What is happening in Ukraine now is a crime. And Russia is an aggressor country. And the responsibility for this crime lies only on the conscience of one person. And that person is Vladimir Putin. My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian. And they were never enemies. And this necklace on my neck […] is a symbol of the fact that Russia must immediately stop the fratricidal war and our fraternal peoples will still be able to reconcile. Unfortunately, in recent years I have been working on Channel One, doing Kremlin propaganda, and I am now very ashamed of it. It's a shame for letting me tell lies from the TV screen. I'm ashamed that I allowed to zombify Russian people. We kept silent in 2014, when all this was just beginning. We didn't go out to rallies when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny. We just silently watched this anti-human regime. And now the whole world has turned its back on us. And ten more generations of our descendants will not be washed away from the shame of this fratricidal war. We, Russian people, are thinking and smart. It's up to us to stop this madness. Come out to rallies, don't be afraid of anything, they can't jail us all.]
- ^ a b Rose, David (2022-03-15). "Marina Ovsyannikova: Fears for Russian journalist who denounced lies live on TV". The Times. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ Breivig, Espen Moe; Lyngstad, Håkon Kvam (2022-03-15). "Zelenskyj advarer Norge og Europa: − Vi er alle russiske mål". Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60749279. BBC. Retrieved 16 March 2022
- ^ "Macron offers shelter for Russian editor held over TV protest". France 24. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ https://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/i/28kjEa/kuppet-tv-sending-russisk-journalist-skal-vaere-avbildet-i-retten. Verdens Gang[clarification needed]
- ^ Russia outlaws spreading ‘fake news’ about the Russian military with fines and prison Poynter. Accessed 15 March 2022
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Redaktør braut inn i direktesending på statleg russisk TV" [Editor broke into live broadcast on Russian state television]. NRK. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Lyngstad, Håkon Kvam (2022-03-15). "Russisk journalist skal være avbildet i retten". Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "Russian court fines woman for anti-war protest on state TV". Reuters. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "The Badass Russian TV Producer Who Crashed a Newscast Is Free—For Now". Vice. 2022-03-15.
- ^ "Marina Ovsyannikova: Russian journalist in court after TV protest". BBC. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b ""Don't be jealous!" Social networks assessed the act of Marina Ovsyannikova differently". Novye Izvestia. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ 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.
External links
- 1978 births
- Living people
- Kuban State University alumni
- People from Odessa
- Channel One Russia
- Reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration alumni
- Russian anti-war activists
- Russian people of Ukrainian descent
- Russian television personalities
- Russian women activists
- Women television producers