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A protester has ambushed Russia’s state Channel One live news feed and hijacked viewer's attention for a few precious seconds to rally against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The woman, identified as Channel One editor Marina Ovsyannikova, burst onto the set of the nightly news bulletin on Monday (March 14) evening, shouting 'stop the war. No to war.'
Ovsyannikova also brandished a large sign that read: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.”
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It was then signed off in English, reading 'Russians against the war'.
The news anchor continued to read from the teleprompter and spoke louder in an attempt to drown Ovsyannikova's voice out before the station cut to a pre-recorded segment.
The protest could be seen for several seconds prior to the cut.
Ovsyannikova also released a pre-recorded video on social media to express her regret for working at the news station because she believes it spreads 'Kremlin propaganda'.
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“Regrettably, for a number of years, I worked on Channel One and worked on Kremlin propaganda, I am very ashamed of this right now," she wrote.
"Ashamed that I was allowed to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I allowed the zombification of Russian people.
"We were silent in 2014 when this was just beginning. We did not go out to protest when the Kremlin poisoned [opposition leader Alexander] Navalny.
“We are just silently watching this anti-human regime. And now the whole world has turned away from us and the next 10 generations won’t be able to clean themselves from the shame of this fratricidal war.”
In the video statement Ovsyannikova can be seen wearing a necklace in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.
She then revealed that her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian.
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“What is happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor,” she said. “The responsibility of this aggression lies on the shoulders of only one person: Vladimir Putin”.
Ovsyannikova went on to urge her fellow Russians to join anti-war protests to call for an end to the Ukrainian invasion."Only we have the power to stop all this madness.
"Go to the protests. Don’t be afraid of anything. They can’t imprison us all."
Russian media service Tass reported that Ovsyannikova since been arrested for the on-air protest.
Their report was found online in Russian, but not in English.
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According to Tass, she can 'be held liable, including under Article 20.3.3. of the Code of Administrative Offences', which is legislation that targets those who discredit 'the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens [and] maintain international peace and security'.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information.
Rachel Lang