HRF Expresses Concern Over the Arrest of Journalist and Activist Marina Ovsyannikova

NEW YORK (July 18, 2022) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) expresses grave concern over the arrest of Ukrainian-born Russian journalist and activist Marina Ovsyannikova. Last Friday, Ovsyannikova staged a protest near the Kremlin against the ongoing war and killing of children in Ukraine. She held a banner with photos of children that read: “Putin is a murderer. His soldiers are fascists.” Security forces arrested her yesterday in front of her home outside Moscow. She was fined for “discrediting the Russian armed forces” and later released. The fine for this offense is typically between 30,000 to 50,000 rubles ($515 to $860 USD).

According to Ovsyannikova, the reason for her detention is related to remarks she made during an interview outside the Basmanny Court in Moscow on July 13. That day, Ovsyannikova showed support for another opposition figure — Ilya Yashin — who was recently detained for allegedly spreading “fake information” about the Russian armed forces. During the interview, Ovsyannikova stated that “the war in Ukraine is a crime, it is a frenzied attempt to hold the power in [the government’s] hands.”

Ovsyannikova is a former editor at Russia’s Channel One. After thinking through ways in which she could protest against the war in Ukraine, she chose to interrupt a live broadcast, holding a sign calling for “no war.” Following her demonstration on live TV and a subsequent anti-war video, Ovsyannikova was held overnight in a police station, denied access to an attorney, and ultimately fined 30,000 rubles. She faces up to 15 years in prison under Russia’s disinformation laws. Earlier this year, she was awarded HRF’s Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.

Ovsyannikova’s detention is part of a larger effort by the Russian government to silence any attempts to criticize the war in Ukraine and bring attention to the crimes being perpetrated during the conflict. Since the start of the war almost five months ago, the Russian government has enacted repressive laws criminalizing any opposition to the war, which led to the closure of all major independent news outlets in the country. The Russian government continues to call the war a “special military operation.”

HRF condemns this latest attempt to intimidate Ovsyannikova. The Russian government must answer for its abuses, end its harassment of civil society members, and release all political prisoners.

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.