Marina Ovsyannikova: Who is the woman who protested the war in Ukraine on live Russian TV?

A woman holding an anti-war sign interrupted a live broadcast of a Russian evening news programme on the state-controlled Channel 1 on Monday evening.

The woman ran onto the set holding the sign, clearly visible behind the presenter, which read:

No war, stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.

The woman has been identified as an editor at the channel, Marina Ovsyannikova.

Russian propoganda

Russian TV news is strictly controlled by the Kremlin and communicates solely the Russian version of events in Ukraine.

According to the BBC, Ms Ovsyannikova is now believed to be in police custody.

She could be heard saying 'No to war! Stop the war!' before the broadcast was cut early to a recorded news report.

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A call for action

Prior to the protest, Ms Ovsyannikova recorded a video in which she described events in Ukraine as a 'crime' and declared that she was ashamed to work for what she called Kremlin propaganda.

She explained:

I'm ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I allowed Russians to be turned into zombies

She encouraged the Russian people to protest against the war, stating that only they could 'stop the madness.'

As soon as Ms Ovsyannikova's identity was revealed, she immediately received dozens of comments on her Facebook page in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, expressing gratitude for her actions.

It has since been reported that Ms Ovsyannikova was fined 30,000 rouble (about £215 or $280), a relatively light sentence.