After holding a sign to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a news broadcast, Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova told BBC that Russians should pay little to no heed to state media coverage. 

 “I understand it’s very hard… to find alternative information, but you need to try to look for it,” she told BBC. 

Ovsyannikova, an editor at state-controlled Channel 1, was detained by Russian authorities after her televised protest on Monday.

The Russian journalist ran onto the set of Vremya, one of Russia’s most-viewed news programmes, holding a sign behind the anchor on set. “No war, stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here,” the sign read. 

During the broadcast, Ovsyannikova was heard saying “no war, stop the war”.

“I was aware that if I went to protest in (Moscow’s) central square I would be arrested like everyone else and thrown into a police van and be put on trial,” Ovsyannikova told BBC on Thursday.

“Half the poster was in Russian, half the poster was in English. I really wanted to show the Western audience that some Russians are against war,” she said.

“I feel of course some responsibility lying on me. I was an ordinary cog in the propaganda machine. Until the very last moment I didn’t think about it too much,” she added.

Also read: Who was Pierre Zakrzewski, Fox News cameraman killed in Ukraine?

“The protest had two goals: to show the world that the Russians are against the war and to say in the eyes of the Russians – do not be zombies, do not listen to propaganda, learn to analyze information, find other sources of information, not only Russian state television,” she said according to a report by BNT.

Ovsyannikova further addressed allegations about staging the protest.

Also Read: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping to discuss US-China ties, Russia-Ukraine war on Friday

“There are lots of conspiracy theories building up about me. That’s why I had to explain to the world what really happened, the fact that I am just a normal Russian woman, but I could not remain on the sidelines,” she told BBC. 

Also Read: ‘Unforgivable’: Kremlin slams Joe Biden for calling Vladimir Putin a war criminal

Because the state television news in Russia falls under the direct control and scrutiny of the Kremlin, it is rare to witness mediapersons oppose the government’s viewpoints. This has begun to change, with several Russian journalists quitting Russian state channels since the country’s invasion of Ukraine.