Four years after she went live with an anti-war sign during a news bulletin on Pervîi Canal, journalist Marina Ovseanikova breaks her silence. The journalist claims that after Russia invaded Ukraine, the largest exodus of journalists from federal channels followed.
In Marina Ovseanikova’s opinion, the press in Russia cannot be independent. As a result, the opponent stated in an interview for hotnews.ro that many of her colleagues tried to find themselves in other fields.
“When the war started, it was probably the most massive departure of employees from the federal channels. Many simply left into the unknown, in a kind of downshifting, they went to the countryside and tried to deal with something completely different, because in Russia, if you stay in Russia, you can’t work for independent media, because all media are, of course, under the control of the Kremlin.
Therefore, people simply left journalism and tried to find themselves somewhere, in something else. Whoever could, of course, emigrated and joined independent media. And then, if that moment had been sustained, if the atmosphere had not become so tense at that time, it seems to me that the exodus could have been more massive. But, unfortunately, this did not happen,” Ovseanikova reported.
In March 2024, shortly after Russia started the war in Ukraine, Marina Ovseanikova became known for going live during the news bulletin on Russia’s main television “Pervîi Canal”, with a sign on which were written messages against military aggression.