Months after she interrupted a live TV broadcast to protest Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, a Russian journalist named Marina Ovsyannikova was detained by the country’s police on Sunday. According to AFP, her arrest came just days after Ovsyannikova demonstrated alone near the Kremlin with a sign criticising Russia’s presence in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin. The journalist had gone out for a walk with her dogs when she was abruptly approached by people in uniforms, reports Reuters. Her arrest was announced on her Telegram channel, along with photographs of two police officers leading her towards a white van.
Watch | Ukrainian vet dodges mines to save animals in Mariupol
“Marina has been detained,” said the post, adding “There is no information on where she is.”
The Ria-Novosti news agency received confirmation of her detention from her attorney, Dmitri Zakhvatov, who claimed to be unaware of Ovsyannikova’s whereabouts.
He said, “I assume that it is linked one way or another to her act of protest.”
Also read | Russia will take more aggressive stance against Ukraine, says defence minister Sergei Shoigu
Shortly after the arrest, as per Reuters Marina posted a picture of herself and her two dogs on her Facebook page.
“Went for a walk with the dogs, just stepped outside the gate, people in uniform approached me,” she wrote. Referring to a police station in the Moscow district, she added, “Now I’m sitting in Krasnoselsky ministry of internal affairs”.
Also read | ‘War is war, but lunch must be served on time,’ says Ukrainian sushi chef
She was released three hours later.
“I’m home. Everything is okay,” she posted on Facebook, adding “but now I know it’s always best to bring a suitcase and passport if you go out.”
(With inputs from agencies)
