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According to the statement, Ovsyannikova has been charged with spreading fake news about the Russian military and has been placed under house arrest until October 9.\u00a0 The offence is punishable by up to 10 years in prison by Russian law.<\/p>\n
Ovsyannikova, who previously worked as an editor for Russian state TV Channel One, took a dramatic stand against Russia’s war in Ukraine during a live broadcast in March when she broke into the studio and appeared behind a news anchor with a sign that said: “NO WAR.”<\/p>\n
She previously told CNN she had already received three fines for a total sum of 120,000 rubles (about $1,970) for her anti-war statements, including for allegedly \u201cdiscrediting\u201d the army in her Facebook post she published on Russia Day.<\/p>\n
In March 2022, when thousands of Russians thronged the streets to protest against the war and against the invasion of Ukraine., many were arrested and others were muffled.\u00a0 After this, new reports that most Russians are in favour of the war, but no Russian voices are heard affirming the same.<\/p>\n
Yelena Osipova 77-year-old peace activist has survived the Nazis\u2019 brutal siege of Leningrad,\u00a0 familiar with incarceration during a military conflict. However, she was arrested on Wednesday by her own government when the two police officers took her in.\u00a0 \u00a0She is among thousands of Russians taking to the streets in protest against Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. \u2018We have only one demand,\u2019 says Maria, a veteran activist from Moscow: \u2018Stop the war!\u2019<\/p>\n
On 24 February, the first day of the invasion, 1,700 anti-war protesters were detained across Russia, including three Radio Liberty journalists accredited by the authorities to report on demonstrations. In a video the reporters managed to smuggle out of jail, one is seen telling the police they are \u2018official press\u2019 and pleads for officers to stop twisting his arms and legs. On 2 March, Nika Samusik, a journalist for independent news source Sota, was detained for filming an anti-war rally in St Petersburg. After nine days of war, over 8,100 protesters had been detained, according to the Russian protest monitor OVD-Info.<\/p>\n
The Russian authorities\u2019 low tolerance for demonstrations and marches is old.\u00a0 Organizing, or even just attending, protests can have serious consequences including arrest, fines \u2013 and even imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Under Russia\u2019s Code of Administrative Offences, calling for an unauthorized protest carries a potential fine of 10,000-20,000 roubles (Around $90-$185). Given that the average national monthly pay cheque was 56,500 roubles in 2021, this is a big penalty. In addition, the law is interpreted punitively: even a single person carrying an anti-war poster counts as an unauthorized rally. \u2018Just posting \u201cstop the war\u201d on Twitter is considered an illegal protest,\u2019 says a journalist in Vladivostok.<\/p>\n
Persistent protesters \u2013 a definition that can mean as little as attending two rallies \u2013 face fines of up to 300,000 roubles, 30 days in prison or 200 hours of forced labour. \u2018The authorities say taking part in demonstrations is akin to involvement in an extremist organization\u2019, one protester tells me. \u2018And yet we will continue to fight for peace,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n
The authorities say taking part in demonstrations is akin to involvement in an extremist organization, and yet we will continue to fight for peace\u2019<\/p>\n
Bravely, they protest and one young woman in Moscow explains that she continues to take to the streets \u2018because a bloody war is being waged in our name and we weren\u2019t even consulted\u2019. She adds: \u2018Our rights are openly and illegally violated by a government that does not respect its people. And we protest because we do not want to be socially, politically, and economically isolated from the world \u2013 we want freedom of speech and a choice over our future.\u2019<\/p>\n
For many protesters, now is a turning point for Russia as well as Ukraine. \u2018We want to prevent any more victims of this war,\u2019 says one Moscow protester. \u2018We must stop Putin imposing martial law that would cut us off from all independent information, shut our borders, ban protests, and allow the authorities to conscript our young men.\u2019<\/p>\n
On 26 February, Russia\u2019s media regulator Roskomnadzor prohibited domestic media from using the words \u2018war\u2019, \u2018invasion\u2019 or \u2018assault\u2019 to describe Putin\u2019s aggression against Ukraine. For violating this order, Roskomnadzor took the country\u2019s last independent broadcasters Ekho Moscow and TV Dozhd off the air on 1 March, blocking access to their websites. On 4 March, media services by BBC Russia, Radio Liberty and Meduza were restricted. Access to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Google is also tightening, deterring protesters from sharing information and organizing action.<\/p>\n
For Putin, control of information is important, as it is clear those protesting his butchery in Ukraine are largely younger Russians who rely on independent news sources. \u2018The majority of Russians watching state television believe Kremlin propaganda and support Putin and his army,\u2019 says one activist. \u2018Younger, more educated Russians are not brainwashed by state TV and understand what is happening. They are shocked and and helpless. They know there is nothing they can do to stop the madness, but they cannot remain at home and pretend everything is normal. They go to the streets knowing they will be beaten, arrested and thrown into jail because there is nothing else they can do.\u2019<\/p>\n
The experience of Belarus shows that mass demonstrations can be stifled with violence\u2019
\nA woman protesting in Moscow says demonstrators are \u2018willing to risk everything for the sake of freedom\u2019. And it is true that the cost of participating in protests is high. \u2018Demonstrators risk being fired from their jobs or expelled from university,\u2019 explains a reporter for a Vladivostok media outlet in Russia\u2019s Far East.<\/p>\n
Reacting to last year\u2019s protests against the jailing of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, firms fearing the Kremlin\u2019s wrath banned employees from attending rallies. The jailing of Navalny and the banning of his Anti-Corruption Foundation for \u2018extremism\u2019 in June 2021 removed the last opposition institution capable of quickly organizing mass demonstrations across Russia.<\/p>\n