Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian anti-war protester, interrupts state television news.

Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian anti-war protester, interrupts state television news.

Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian anti-war protester, interrupts state television news.

Advertisements

The Russian State TV protests sent shockwaves throughout Russian society.’

NewsReport gathered that Yakov Kronrod had returned to Russia months before the invasion of Ukraine to care for his mother, so he was on the ground watching as a Channel One editor made the audacious decision to organize a demonstration on live television.

The editor of Channel One, Marina Ovsyannikova, held up a sign claiming that Russians were being misled and that they should not trust the propaganda. She was arrested and taken to the Ostankino police station.

Vladimir Putin of Russia enacted legislation that allows anyone who says something that contradicts the government to be imprisoned for 15 years.

According to Kronrod, even pro-Putin outlets have reported on the story, he said, delivering her message even farther to more people.

“It sends shock waves through all of Russian society. Yandex News had a story about it, and they rarely have anything that’s against the main narrative,” said Kronrod. “Her Facebook page was getting thousands of people commenting every minute.

Literally, it exploded. Everyone was texting each other, calling each other saying, did you see? Did you see what happened? And many of the human rights activists that I’m talking to feel this may very well be the start of the wave to see someone like that Channel 1 has 250 million viewers, it’s the number one watched station by most common Russians. For a lot of Russians, this was the first time they saw any dissenting voice.”