- Marina Ovsyannikova crashed a live news broadcast on
Russia 's Channel One with an anti-war banner. - Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked her and praised her courage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the Russian state TV editor who stormed a live news broadcast with an anti-war protest sign.
On Monday, Marina Ovsyannikova walked behind the host during the "Vremya" news show on Channel One carrying a banner that said, "They are lying to you," and shouting, "Stop the war."
After Ovsyannikova appeared on screen, the live feed cut to footage from a busy hallway. The state-run TASS Russian-state news agency later reported that Ovsyannikova was arrested.
In an early Tuesday-morning video address, Zelenskyy praised Ovsyannikova's courage.
"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. And personally to the woman who entered the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war," he said.
In a prerecorded video, Ovsyannikova explained her decision to speak out. She said she'd been "working on Kremlin propaganda" and was "very ashamed."
"I am ashamed that I've allowed the lies to be said on the TV screens. I am ashamed that I let the Russian people be zombified," she said.
Russian state-run media outlets are heavily censoring news of Russia's invasion of
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesperson, described Ovsyannikova's protest as "hooliganism" on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta covered the news of Ovsyannikova's protest but blurred out the text on her banner.
"A girl appeared with a poster, the full content of which we are forbidden to transfer," Novaya Gazeta reported on Monday, referring to the new media law.
The Russian government refers to the invasion that began on February 24 as a "special military operation."
During his speech on Tuesday, Zelenskyy also urged Russian soldiers to surrender.
"But why should you die? What for? I know that you want to survive. We hear your conversations in the intercepts. We hear what you really think about this senseless war, about this disgrace, and about your state. Your conversations with each other. Your calls home to your family. We hear it all. We draw conclusions. We know who you are," he said, without giving further specifics.
"On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I give you a chance," he continued. "Chance to survive. If you surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated — as people, decently. In a way you were not treated in your army. And in a way your army does not treat ours. Choose!"