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Who is Marina Ovsyannikova? Russian TV editor MISSING after protesting Ukraine war on LIVE news

The editor had held a sign saying 'They're lying to you here' during the broadcaster's main evening news show on Monday, March 14

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine stretching into its third week of bloody and brutal fighting, more and more Russians are coming out against the senseless war. One of them was Marina Ovsyannikova, a TV editor at Pervyi Kanal (Channel One) who held up an anti-war sign during a live broadcast of the network's evening news show. The feed was quickly cut and Ovsyannikova was arrested.

The latest update about the anti-war journalist is worrying as she has been reported missing. The mum-of-two had been first been detained at the channel's HQ and later taken to a 'secret location.' Her lawyers have not yet been able to see her, even as prosecutors have begun preparing a case against her. According to a tweet by the Russian human rights group OVDInfo, whose lawyers are helping Marina, "where she is is still unknown." Pavel Chikov, another lawyer acting for her, also released a statement on Tuesday, March 15, saying, “Marina’s whereabouts have not been established yet. She has been detained for more than 12 hours." 

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Ovsyannikova is far from the only one to protest the Russian invasion. According to the latest estimates, over 4,300 people have been detained all over Russia for protesting the war. Among those arrested was 77-year-old Yelena Osipova, who protested the invasion in St. Petersburg on March 2. Even notable Russian celebrities like pop star Valery Meladze and comedian Ivan Urgant have taken to social media to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With the war not exactly going to plan, Putin has clamped down on social media and the press, going as far as to ban Instagram and Facebook from the country. However, it seems Russians are still finding a way to learn about the atrocities in Ukraine and share them with others who are unable to source true facts first-hand. While many have resorted to the Internet, Ovsyannikova decided to boldly share the information on live TV.

Who is Marina Ovsyannikova?

The 44-year-old is an alumnus of Russia's Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, from which she graduated in 2005. She has been employed at Channel One for several years, after a stint at another state TV station Kuban TV. It's unclear how long she has been at Channel One, widely seen as one of the most important in Russia, with 250 million viewers globally. 

She currently lives in Moscow and has two children according to her social media profiles. Old interviews also indicate she was a competitive swimmer before turning to journalism, and still does open-water swimming. Her Instagram profile claims she swam across the Volga River in Russia and the Bosphorus strait in Turkey. On Facebook, Ovsyannikova has liked the BBC News, CNN, and Fox News pages, indicating strong support for western media and journalism. 

Beyond that, little is known about Ovsyannikova who decided to speak up against Vladimir Putin on March 14, 2022. As a news anchor was reading the news, Ovsyannikova ran up behind her and held up a large sign saying, "Stop the war! Don't believe propaganda! They're lying to you here! Russians against war." Producers quickly cut to another report, while she was removed from the studio and detained by the police.

Officially, she was arrested for her "public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintain international peace and security." It wasn't her only act of defiance though. Before taking to national TV, Ovsyannikova recorded a message posted on social media. "My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian and they were never enemies. What's happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor. The responsibility for this aggression lies with one man: Vladimir Putin," she said. 

"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," Ovsyannikova added. The producer ended her strongly-worded statement by saying, "They can't put us all in prison." She is now facing 15 years in jail under a new Russian law that bans public opposition to or non-state news coverage of the conflict. Under the new article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, she is expected to be sentenced for the “public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Federation Armed Forces.”