The reason for the arrest seems to be a new protest last Friday. Marina Ovshannikova had posted pictures of herself on Telegram that day in which she protested, in front of the Kremlin, holding a sign that read: “Putin is a murderer.” On Sunday, photos followed showing her being put in a minibus by police officers. “There is no information on where she is,” her lawyer subsequently wrote on Telegram. But human rights website OVD-Info stated later that day that the woman would have been released again.
Ovshannikova interrupted a live broadcast from Russia’s main state broadcaster last March by entering the studio shouting ‘stop the war’. On a sign was written “Do not believe the propaganda, they lie to you”. She managed to show the sign behind the newscaster for a few seconds.
With her protest she wanted to show the world that “Russians are against the war”. At the same time, she wanted to make it clear to her compatriots that they should “think critically and critically analyze the information presented to them”.
After her action, Ovsyannikova was imprisoned and interrogated for 14 hours, after which she was fined 30,000 rubles (almost 260 euros). Then she was released. She resigned from the state broadcaster she worked for, but refused the political asylum that France was offering her. She wanted to stay in Russia, despite having “ruined” her family’s life with her action.