Anti-war protester interrupts Russian state TV news broadcast
An anti-war protester holding a sign interrupted one of Russia's major state television broadcast news shows.
"NO WAR. Stop the war. Do not believe propaganda they tell you lies here," the sign reads.
"Russians against war," the last line of the sign says in English.
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An anti-war protester holding a sign interrupted one of Russia's major state television broadcast news shows. CNN
The woman holding the sign is an employee of the channel, according to OVD-Info, an independent human rights protest-monitoring group.
On its Telegram channel, OVD-Info reported that the employee is Maria Ovsyannikova. Friends of Ovsyannikova told OVD-Info that she was currently at the Ostankino Police Department in Moscow.
CNN cannot independently verify that the woman seen interrupting the news broadcast is Ovsyannikova, but photos on social media profiles bearing her name match the woman seen on screen.
Russian state news agency TASS confirmed OVD-Info's reporting, citing a source, and added that she could face prosecution.
OVD-Info also obtained a video purportedly made by Ovsyannikova before she interrupted the news broadcast.
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Within minutes, the live feed was removed. CNN
"What is happening now in Ukraine is a crime, and Russia is the aggressor country, and the responsibility for this aggression lies on the conscience of only one person. This man is Vladimir Putin," Ovsyannikova says in the video, noting that her father is Ukrainian, and her mother is Russian.
"Unfortunately, for the past few years, I have been working on Channel One and doing Kremlin propaganda, and now I am very ashamed of it," she says. "It's a shame that I allowed to speak lies from the TV screens, ashamed that I allowed to zombify Russian people."
"We are Russian people, thinking and smart, and it is only in our power to stop all this madness," she says. "Go to the rallies and do not be afraid! They can't transplant us all!"
Videos of the interruption quickly were posted on social media shortly after it aired. CNN obtained the video from a live feed from Russia Channel One VK's profile.
Within minutes, that live feed was removed.
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