- A Russian journalist who stormed her own network's broadcast to
protest the Ukrainian war said more than half of all Russians are against the invasion. - "I believe that many people, more than half of the people in
Russia , are against the war," Maria Ovsyannikova said.
A Russian
Footage shows Maria Ovsyannikova, an editor at Russian state broadcaster Channel One, running onto the set as another newscaster delivers an address on camera. Ovsyannikova can be seen holding up a sign that informs viewers they are being lied to before the footage quickly switches over to another scene away from the set.
"Stop the war! Don't believe propaganda! They're lying to you here!" the sign read.
—Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) March 14, 2022
"Stop the war! No to war! Stop the war! No to war!" Ovsyannikova shouted as she held the sign.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Ovsyannikova said she believes "that many people, more than half of the people in Russia, are against the war."
She said she had initially planned to attend a protest in Moscow to demonstrate against the
"I decided that maybe I could do something else, something more meaningful, but more impact. Where I could attract more attention to this and I could show to the rest of the world that Russians are against the war," she said.
She continued: "And I could show to the Russian people that this is just propaganda, expose this propaganda for what it is, and maybe stimulate some people to speak up against the war."
In an interview earlier this week, Ovsyannikova said the idea to protest has been "brewing" in her head for a while.
"I have been feeling a cognitive dissonance, more and more, between my beliefs and what we say on air," Ovsyannikova said in an interview with CNN. "It was a brewing sense of dissatisfaction that kept increasing every year. The war was the point of no return, when it was simply impossible to stay silent."