Channel One ex-employee charged with spreading “fakes” about the army and may face up to 10 years in prison

Former Channel One employee Marina Ovsyannikova has been charged with “public dissemination of knowingly false information about the operation of the Russian Armed Forces,” lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov says. The charge implies punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

“A detention protocol has been drawn up, Marina will spend the night in the detention center at 38 Petrovka Street. What restraint measure will be applied is still unclear. Marina Vladimirovna is being questioned as the accused”, the lawyer says.

Earlier today, Ovsyannikova's home was searched.

After the start of the war in March, during an evening newscast on Channel One, Ovsyannikova appeared on air behind the host Ekaterina Andreeva with a sign saying “Stop the war! Don't trust the propaganda, you are being lied to here.”

The next day Ovsyannikova was fined. She left for Germany but returned in July. After that, she was charged with “discrediting the army” and fined twice – for her Facebook post and for the comment she made in front of the court building on the day the restraint measure was being chosen for the politician Ilya Yashin.

On July 15, Ovsyannikova went on a solo protest in downtown Moscow. She was holding a placard that read “Putin is a murderer” and had a reference to the Ukrainian children killed by Russia. At her feet, Ovsyannikova had children's toys covered in red paint.