TE24 International Desk:
Russian police on Sunday detained journalist Marina Ovsanikova, who interrupted a live TV broadcast to condemn military action in Ukraine in March, her lawyer said.
No official statement has been issued, but Ovsannikova, 44, has been detained since demonstrating alone near the Kremlin and carrying a placard criticizing Russian intervention in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin. Will come within a day.
“Marina has been detained,” her colleague said in a message posted on the journalist’s Telegram account. “No information on his whereabouts.”
The message included three images of two police officers escorting him into a white van after he was apparently stopped while cycling.
Her lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, confirmed her arrest to the Ria-Novosti news agency and said he did not know where Ovsanikova had been taken.
“I think it has something to do with their protests,” he added. In March, Channel One TV editor Ovsannikova rushed to her flagship news item Vremya (Time) with a poster labeled “No War” in English.
On Friday, Ovsyannikova posted a photo of herself on Telegram, showing her near the Kremlin, dealing with the death of her children, and posted her protest poster accusing Putin of being a “murderer”.
Such statements expose him to criminal charges for being “accused” of publishing “false information” about his army. When Ovsanikova protested live on television in March, she gained international fame overnight. The photos he intercepted have been circulated around the world.
He was temporarily arrested and released with a fine, but his protest was praised by many international observers, but not widely recognized by the Russian opposition.
Some critics say that she has worked on Parvi Kanal channel for years. They say it is effectively the Kremlin’s mouthpiece.
In the months following her protest in March, Ovsanikova spent some time abroad, including a brief stint as a contributor to the German newspaper Die Welt. In early July, she announced that she would return to Russia to resolve a dispute over the custody of her children.
