Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who courageously interrupted a live television broadcast to protest her country’s invasion of Ukraine, was arrested for the second time by Russian authorities over the weekend.
The news of his arrest appeared on his Telegram account on Sunday after his friends announced that he was detained by the police and put in a white van while riding a bike in Moscow.
According to the Moscow Times, which has been operating in exile in Amsterdam since March, Ovsyannikova was released three hours later, accused of “discrediting” the Russian military.
Ovsyannikova was editor of the government-controlled Pervyy Kanal at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Concerned by the footage from Ukraine, he interrupted the channel’s main evening news on March 14, carrying a banner protesting the war and urging viewers not to believe the propaganda.
He was briefly detained, fined $527 (30,000 rubles) and left Russia soon after. Until recently, he lived outside of Russia and worked on a temporary contract for the German newspaper Die Welt.
On July 3, the journalist announced on Instagram that she had returned to Russia to fight for access to her two children after her ex-husband filed for sole custody in Moscow.
Ovsyannikova said in her post that she could be arrested on her return, but despite these fears, she has stepped up the popular campaign against the war since her return.
On Friday, July 15, he held a second solo rally near the Kremlin. Video footage shows him waving a banner with slogans criticizing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin in front of the Kremlin. At her feet were two dolls covered in red paint.
However, the Moscow Times reported that their new accusations are mostly related to the participation of Russian dissident Ilya Yashin in last week’s trial.
Ovsyannikova was among hundreds of journalists and opposition activists who showed up outside the courtroom for a show of support.
Yashin was accused of spreading false information about the Russian military after he spoke in a YouTube video about the alleged war crimes being committed in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, there has been widespread crackdown on anti-war protests and opposition in Russia.
According to a recent report by Russia’s independent human rights organization OVD-info, 15,000 people have been arrested since February 24, and at least 178 people are currently on trial and could face long prison sentences.
Source: Deadline
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