Marina Ovsyannikova’s famous on-screen protest.Photo: twitter
“I believe in what I did, but I now understand the scale of the problems that I’ll have to deal with and, of course, I’m extremely concerned for my safety,” Marina Ovsyannikova, 43,told ReutersWednesday.
It is the first time that the mother of two has spoken with the press since she walked onto the set of the state-run Channel 1 news programVremyaholding a sign that read, “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.”
Ovsyannikova also released a pre-recorded video in which she spoke about her “shame” at helping spread “Kremlin propaganda” while working for Channel 1.
After the televised act of protest, which quickly went viral and evenearned praisefrom Ukraine’s PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy, Ovsyannikova was detained and questioned overnight without access to legal representation, she told Reuters.
Marina Ovsyannikova.Marina Ovsyannikova/Instagram
On Tuesday, she was fined 30,000 rubles (approximately $275) for posting the video but has not yet been prosecuted for her on-air, anti-war disruption, which the Kremlin described as “hooliganism.”
Thousands of Russians have reportedly been arrested for protesting the country’s war in Ukraine under laws that prohibit “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” and carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
“I absolutely do not feel like a hero,” Ovsyannikova, whose father was Ukrainian, told Reuters of her decision to speak out despite possible consequences.
“You know, I really want to feel like this sacrifice was not in vain, and that people will open their eyes,” she said.
“If I end up having to serve time in jail for what I believe in, then I hope it’s a minimal sentence,” she continued.
Ovsyannikova said she was moved to protest because the attack on Ukraine stirred memories of growing up in Chechnya, where Russian forces fought rebels beginning in the 1990s.
“The war in Ukraine was like a trigger for me. Very vividimages from my childhoodcame flooding back,” she told Reuters. “I understood … I could feel what those unfortunate people are going through. It’s really beyond the pale.”
Marina Ovsyannikova speaks to reporters following her release from jail in Moscow.Marina Ovsyannikova/Instagram
“There was shelling, I was 12 years old, we gathered up our things and left,” she added.
Those recollections, Ovsyannikova told Reuters, made her want to speak directly to Russian viewers.
Though she also said she has no plans to leave the country, she offered another message for the Russian public: “Don’t be such zombies,” she said, according to Reuters. “Don’t listen to this propaganda; learn how to analyze information; learn how to find other sources of information — not just Russian state television.”
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues nearly three weeks after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukraine PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
