on the evening news programme
Vremya, which had millions of viewers, she appeared behind the news anchor,
Ekaterina Andreeva, carrying a poster stating in a mix of Russian and English: The recording of the news program was not available for download, which is uncommon for this TV channel. The protest was unusual as the state-operated program does not deviate from the Kremlin line of a "
special military operation", and viewers had previously not been told that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a war. In the video, she stated that she was "ashamed of working for Kremlin propaganda":
Reactions . He is waiting for the detained Marina Ovsyannikova to express his words of support and give her a bouquet of flowers. Clips of Ovsyannikova's protest were widely shared around the world and attracted substantial global media coverage. Ukrainian president
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ovsyannikova during one of his broadcasts. French president
Emmanuel Macron offered Ovsyannikova protection at the French embassy or through
asylum. Russian government spokesman
Dmitry Peskov referred to her protest as "
hooliganism". Russian opposition politician
Lev Shlosberg said, "Five seconds of truth can wash away the dirt of weeks of propaganda." Russian opposition politician
Ilya Yashin described Ovsyannikova as a "hero of Russia". The BBC reported that Ovsyannikova's protest had drawn attention to a gradual stream of resignations from Russian state-run TV, with three others emerging within hours.
Kirill Kleimyonov, head of Channel One Russia's news division, accused her of being a "British spy" and said she called the British embassy prior to the onstage protest. The
UK Foreign Office said there was no contact prior to the on-screen protest.
Persecutions and activism Ovsyannikova was detained and taken to
Ostankino police station. Her lawyer was not able to contact or even locate her for more than 12 hours. The morning after the broadcast, her whereabouts were still unknown. It was reported Ovsyannikova may face up to 15 years in prison under
Russia's disinformation laws about the Ukrainian invasion. Later on 15 March, the Twitter account of
Kevin Rothrock, an editor at
Meduza, posted a picture showing Ovsyannikova with Anton Gashinsky, a human rights lawyer, in court. For the video posted on Telegram, Ovsyannikova was charged with organizing an unauthorized public event and fined 30,000 rubles ($280, £200 or €255). Russian state news agency
TASS reported that Russia's
Investigative Committee was also investigating Ovsyannikova for the on-air protest on charges of publicly spreading "false information" about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On 17 March, Ovsyannikova quit her job on Channel One Russia. She stated that she rejected asylum in France, and was to stay in Russia with her children. It was announced on 11 April 2022, that Ovsyannikova had accepted, with immediate effect, work as a freelance correspondent for
Axel Springer SE's German newspaper
Die Welt, covering Russia and Ukraine. Shortly after she moved to
Berlin, Germany, leaving her children behind in Russia as her ex-husband did not give her permission to take the children out of the country. On 25 May 2022, during the annual
Oslo Freedom Forum in
Oslo, Norway, Ovsyannikova received the
Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. This prize is given to honor "those who, with bravery and ingenuity, unmask the lies of dictatorship, and who put forth work that exemplifies tremendous courage and creativity". Between 27 and 31 May 2022, Ovsyannikova visited Ukraine as a freelance correspondent for
Die Welt. The visit caused public uproar, which forced
Die Welt to abort the visit and evacuate Ovsyannikova from the country. After her contract with
Die Welt expired, Ovsyannikova returned to Russia. On 15 July 2022, she made a single-person protest at the , in front of the
Kremlin, with a poster reading "Putin is a murderer. His soldiers are fascists. 352 children died. How many more should die for you to stop?" Two days later, she was arrested and later released. On 9 August, a criminal case was started against her due to this event where she was charged under Russia's
2022 war censorship laws with "discrediting" the military; her home was raided by police and she was detained for questioning. She was later released, after being ordered to spend the night at Moscow police headquarters. The next day, she was put under house arrest for two months, until 9 October 2022. However, on 1 October, her husband Igor announced that she had escaped house arrest together with her 11-year-old daughter. Her immediate whereabouts were unknown. On 17 October 2022, Ovsyannikova's lawyer confirmed she had fled Russia "to one of the European countries, where she is now under protection". On the same day, Ovsyannikova was restricted of parental rights on her 10 years old daughter and 17 years old son — the court ordered that Ovsyannikova's daughter must live with her father because her mother "is involved in political activity". On 10 February 2023, Ovsyannikova gave a press conference in Paris, France, where she now resides, and described how she was assisted by
Reporters Without Borders in fleeing the country. She was offered asylum by French president
Emmanuel Macron after her on-air protest, and was at the time of her escape living in various
safehouses in France. She detailed her journey out of Russia, which involved changing vehicles seven times, removing the
electronic surveillance bracelet from her body, and crossing the border on foot. Ovsyannikova was tried in absentia in Russia and on 4 October 2023 was sentenced to 8.5 years jail term for "spreading false information" about the Russian Army. In a declaration, Ovsyannikova called the sentence "politically motivated". On 3 October 2025,
Russian Ministry of Justice included Ovsyannikova in its "
foreign agents" list.
Criticism News of Ovsyannikova being hired as a correspondent to cover the Russian invasion of Ukraine for
Die Welt led to protests in Berlin by the Ukrainian community and war refugees due to her previous work for Russian media. The protesters demanded that she be fired, but
Die Welt refused to do so, saying that she is "on the right side of history". This decision sparked discussion in journalistic circles in Germany and other countries. In Ukraine, despite having been praised by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, == Personal life ==