Russian anti-war protest journalist Marina Ovsyannikova flees to Europe

Marina Ovsyannikova, a former Russian state TV editor who protested against the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine during a live broadcast, has fled to Europe, according to her lawyer.

“Ovsyannikova and her daughter left Russia a few hours after departing from the address where she was under house arrest. They are in Europe now,” Dmitry Zakhvatov told AFP.

The lawyer confirmed Ovsyannikova and her daughter are “under the protection of a European state,” but did not specify which one, as “it may turn out to be a problem,” for her, Reuters reported. Ovsyannikova’s son remains in Russia, according to Zakhvatov.

The 44-year-old journalist, a former propagandist, made waves in March when she crashed the set of Russia’s top evening newscast, Vremya, wearing a necklace in the colors of the Ukrainian and Russian flags, and brandishing a poster that read “Stop the war” and “They are lying to you.”

She paid a fine of 30,000 rubles (at that time, around €250) for her protest, but her lawyers indicated she could face further charges at a later point.

After being fined, Ovsyannikova fled Russia and was hired temporarily by Germany’s Die Welt newspaper (which is owned by POLITICO’s parent company Axel Springer). She subsequently returned to Russia to fight a parental custody battle, she said on social media, where she continued to protest the war.

In October, Ovsyannikova was put on Moscow’s wanted list after she escaped from pre-trial house arrest, imposed after she held a placard near the Kremlin in mid-July saying, “Putin is a murderer. His soldiers are fascists.”

Ovsyannikova was accused of disseminating false information about the Russian army, under a new law adopted by the Kremlin after the war in Ukraine began.

Source: Politico