Zelensky praises Russian TV editor for ‘telling the truth’ after she was arrested for protest on TV against Putin’s war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised the Russian TV editor who ran onto a live state TV news with a sign protesting Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that read: ‘Stop the war... They can’t put us all in prison’.

‘I am grateful to those Russians who do not stop trying to convey the truth. To those who fight disinformation and tell the truth, real facts to their friends and loved ones,’ Zelensky said in a Telegram video uploaded Tuesday, CNN reported.

The president also spoke directly to Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor on the Russian TV channel Pervyi Kanal (Channel One) who held up a sign on the broadcaster’s main evening news show, Vremya, that said: ‘Stop the war! Don’t believe propaganda! They’re lying to you here! Russians against war.’

‘And personally to the woman who entered the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war,’ Zelensky said, adding: ‘To those who are not afraid to protest. As long as your country has not completely closed itself off from the whole world, turning into a very large North Korea, you must fight. You must not lose your chance.’

Channel One was the first station to broadcast in the Russian Federation after the fall of the Soviet Union and has more than 250 million viewers across the world.

The news anchor carried on speaking before producers quickly cut to a news report to stop Ovsyannikova revealing the truth about Putin’s war.

She recorded a video at home before her brave stunt, saying: ‘The responsibility for this aggression lies with one man: Vladimir Putin.’

But she could now be jailed for up to 15 years. Her lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, told the news outlet he is unable to find his client, despite reports she is being held in Moscow’s Ostankino Police station.

Mail Online