Russian journalist who launched on-air anti-war protest says family life is destroyed

The Russian television producer whose live-on-air protest against the war in Ukraine made headlines around the world has told of how her family life was destroyed by her actions.

Ukrainian-born Marina Ovsyannikova, 43, had for years been complicit in consolidating the Kremlin’s ongoing narrative in Russia on the flagship Channel One, but three weeks into the war decided she was unable to continue.

Her protest, in which she interrupted a live broadcast clutching a sign that read: ‘No to war, stop this war – propaganda lies to you’, marked one of the most high-profile denunciations of Putin‘s ‘special military operation’ and landed her a job with prominent German news outlet Die Welt.

But Ovsyannikova said her actions have had significant consequences for her family, telling The Telegraph that her husband launched a custody battle for their children.

‘My son told me I’ve destroyed my family life… the consequences of my protest are snowballing every day,’ she said, before adding she thinks her husband – also a state television employee – may be acting under pressure from the Kremlin. 

‘I’m in limbo. I live day by day… I built a wonderful house in Moscow that I was hoping to spend the rest of my life in,’ the producer said. ‘Now I’m a stranger in a stranger’s land.’ 

Even in the face of such difficulties, Ovsyannikova declared she would ‘defy Putin again’. 

‘Your private problems mean nothing compared to the problems people in Ukraine face… we’re not doing it for ourselves, we’re doing it so that Russia would not plunge into medieval darkness,’ she said.

But the producer is still deplored in Ukraine after years of pushing Kremlin propaganda.

Interfax Ukraine was forced to cancel a press conference with Ovsyannikova scheduled to take place in Kyiv today amid public outcry that a ‘Kremlin stooge’ would be given such a platform to deliver a speech to the Ukrainian media.

The former Channel One editor plans to return to Russia in the coming weeks and has been vocal about her desire to live in Moscow.

But she has been ostracised by many of her former friends and colleagues and could face persecution at the hands of Putin’s regime in the future.

The producer escaped prison in the aftermath of her protest and was instead hit with a fine for breaking a new law relating to ‘spreading disinformation’ about the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine before fleeing abroad. 

Ovsyannikova believes the Russian authorities are trying to make people ‘forget about her’ because throwing her in jail could generate more protests and dissent – but there is no telling what could become of her in country where independent journalism has been largely shut down.

The career journalist and producer was hired on April 10 by German media outlet Die Welt as a ‘freelance correspondent’ to report for their newspaper and their TV news channel. 

Welt Group editor-in-chief Ulf Porschardt said that he was excited to be working with Ovsyannikova, adding that her on-air protest ‘defended the most important journalistic ethics – despite the threat of state repression.’

‘At a crucial moment, Marina Ovsyannikova had the courage to confront Russian viewers with an unembellished view of reality,’ he went on to say. 

But the former Russian state media employee – who this week won the Human Rights Foundation’s prestigious Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent thanks to her protest – has been met with much criticism from independent Russian journalists and Ukraine’s media.

The dissident was due to deliver a press conference in Kyiv today in association with Interfax Ukraine entitled: ‘Expose from Maria Ovsyannikova: How Russian Propaganda Works’.

But the event was axed after Interfax received a torrent of messages from enraged Ukrainian viewers. 

Interfax Ukraine’s director general Alexander Martynenko said: ‘The event was canceled because, as it turned out, there was a rather negative public outcry.

‘Our society and the media community do not want to see this person in Ukraine, let alone communicate with her.’

The director of Ukraine’s Institute of Journalism, Vladimir Ruzin, also refused to hold a meeting between Ovsyannikova and his students, while anti corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk tweeted: ‘This is kind of propaganda Ovsyannikova was doing for years. Still you are wondering why Ukrainians are frustrated (with her receiving the Havel award).’

Other social media users piled in with sarcastic posts ridiculing Ovsyannikova as an ‘accomplice of the war’ and refusing to allow her to work in Ukraine.

‘Now Ovsyannikova will go to conferences for the rest of her life, saying that freedom of speech is being oppressed in our country ”just like in Russia”, read one sarcastic tweet, while another user posted: ‘Am I right in understanding that Ovsyannikova was going to Kyiv to speak at the trial and go to jail as an accomplice in a war crime. Or?’

Ovsyannikova stands resolute in the face of the criticism and has vowed to continue speaking out against Putin’s regime despite becoming a pariah for both sides.

‘We all share one plan: stop the war, make sure war criminals face justice, and get Ukraine rebuilt,’ she said.