Russian TV editor who protested war in Ukraine live on air ‘appears in court’

Channel 1 editor Marina Ovsyannikova appears in court to face charges, Novaya Gazeta reported

A Russian TV editor who protested the war in Ukraine live on television has appeared in court, according to local media reports.

Marina Ovsyannikova was charged with the “organisation of an unauthorised public event”, Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta reported. They said that she was being defended by the lawyer Anton Gashinsky and published a picture of the two together apparently in court.

The Independent has not been able to verify these reports.

Ms Ovsyannikova, an editor at state-controlled Channel 1, was detained after she ran on to the set on Monday holding an anti-war sign.

The sign read: “No war, stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.” Lawyers said overnight and this morning that they were trying to get in touch with Ms Ovsyannikova but that they couldn’t find her.

Before the incident, she recorded a video in which she called Russia’s actions in Ukraine a “crime” and said: “I’m ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the television screen.

“Ashamed that I allowed Russians to be turned into zombies. We just silently watched this inhumane regime.”

This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Images)

Ms Ovsyannikova, who said her father is Ukrainian, added: “Don’t be afraid of anything, they can’t imprison all of us.”

The Russian paper, Novaya Gazeta, said that the Ostankinskiy District Court started its hearing on Tuesday and charged Ms Ovsyannikova with an administrative offence.

Human rights lawyer Anton Gashinsky has previously defended the girlfriend of Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich - the pair were arrested after a plane they were on was diverted to Minsk.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that the country would offer protection and asylum to Ms Ovsyvannikova. Mr Macron said he would “propose this solution in a direct and very concrete manner” to Russian president Vladimir Putin in their next phone call.

He also condemned any detention of journalists and hoped that the editor’s situation would be clarified “as soon as possible”.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.