A Moscow court has sentenced Marina Ovsyannikova, a former Russian state TV editor, to 8.5 years in prison in absentia for spreading “false information” about the Russian army, independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Wednesday.
A criminal case was opened against Ovsyannikova last July after she held a solo protest in the centre of Moscow in which she held up a sign saying “Putin is a murderer, his soldiers are fascists. 352 children have been killed. How many more children have to die before you stop?”. Despite being placed under house arrest, Ovsyannikova fled the country with her daughter shortly afterwards.
Photo: social media
Ovsyannikova became world famous last March when she walked onto the set of Russian state TV’s main evening news show during a live broadcast and held up a sign protesting the invasion of Ukraine.
Ovsyannikova was fired from her job and fined for her protest and later left the country for Germany. She returned to Russia last July before fleeing again when a criminal case for her Moscow protest was opened.
