Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian TV journalist who stopped broadcasting to protest the war in Ukraine, has a new job in Germany. Ovsyannikova was arrested and released after walking into a prime-time program on Russian broadcaster Channel One with a sign that read “You are being lied to”.
The Axel Springer publishing house announced on Monday that the 43-year-old would report for WELT as a freelance correspondent and write for both the newspaper and its TV coverage. According to the publisher, she will report from Ukraine and Russia, among other places.
Ovsyannikova said her new employer “stands for what is being defended so vehemently right now by the courageous local people in Ukraine: freedom”.
“I see it as my duty as a journalist to defend that freedom,” she said. “And I’m happy to be able to do this for WELT now.”
Ulf Poschardt, editor-in-chief of the WELT Group, said that at a “decisive moment” Ovsyannikova “had the courage to confront the Russian viewers with an unembellished view of reality”.
“She defended the most important journalistic ethic – despite the threat of state repression,” he said. “I look forward to working with her.”
Ovsyannikova’s now-viral protest took place in March, when she stormed onto the set with a sign that read, ‘Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. You are being lied to.” She was arrested immediately and said she was interrogated for 14 hours without a representative present.
After her release, she told Reuters that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February invasion of the neighboring country was a “trigger” for her because she grew up in Chechnya. The small republic in southern Russia was besieged by Russian troops in the 1990s and early 2000s, killing thousands in two brutal wars.
“Very vivid images from my childhood came back. I understood. I could feel what these unfortunate people are going through. It’s really beyond pale,” Ovsyannikova had said. “It was impossible for me to stay silent any longer. … And ordinary people like me – ordinary Russian women – have to do something about it. Everyone in Russia.”
Despite the risk, she has spoken openly about the situation and posted various criticisms of Putin’s war on her personal Facebook and Instagram pages. On Sunday, Ovsyannikova published a tribute to Ukrainian refugees, sharing a bit of her own story and assuring the refugees that “you are not alone”.
“My house in Grozny was destroyed during the first Chechen war,” she wrote in Russia. “…There were many years of torture, wandering around strange corners, lack of money and desperation. I have hated war ever since.”
She continued, “The world has changed beyond recognition in the weeks since the beginning of the last war”.
“The main thing now is love, not hate. Kindness, not aggression. Only that can relieve the guilt of the Russian people at least a little,” she said. “And to give hope to millions of Ukrainians for a better and brighter future for their country.”
More Li Cohen