Marina Ovsyannikova, the journalist who protested the invasion of Ukraine on Russian state TV, has landed a new job for the company that owns Die Welt, a German newspaper.
Ovsyannikova will be a freelance correspondent for Die Welt covering Russia and Ukraine. She’ll also appear as a contributor on a TV news channel owned by the German media company.
The BBC reports:
Die Welt “stands for what is being defended so vehemently by the courageous people on the ground in Ukraine right now: for freedom,” Ms Ovsyannikova said.
Ulf Porschardt, who is editor-in-chief of Welt Group, said that Ms Ovsyannikova’s on-air protest “defended the most important journalistic ethics – despite the threat of state repression.”
“I am excited to be working with her,” he added.
On March 16th, Ovsyannikova interrupted a primetime broadcast of Russia’s Channel One and held up a sign that read “Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. You are being lied to.”
Ovsyannikova was immediately detained and kept in police custody for 14 hours.
CBS News reports:
Following her release, she told Reuters that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February invasion of the neighboring country was a “trigger” for her, as she grew up in Chechnya. The small republic in southern Russia was besieged by Russian forces in the 1990s and early 2000s in two brutal wars caused thousands of deaths.
“Very vivid images from my childhood came flooding back. I understood. I could feel what these unfortunate people are going through. It’s really beyond the pale,” Ovsyannikova had said. “It was impossible for me to remain silent anymore. … And ordinary people like me — ordinary Russian women — need to do something about it. Everyone in Russia.”
She has remained outspoken about the situation despite the risk, posting various criticisms of Putin’s war on her personal Facebook and Instagram pages. On Sunday, Ovsyannikova posted a tribute to Ukrainian refugees, sharing a bit of her own story and assuring the refugees that “you are not alone.”
“The main thing now is love, not hate. Kindness, not aggression. Only this can redeem at least a little the guilt of Russian people,” she said. “And to give millions of Ukrainians hope for a better and brighter future of their country.”
