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March 17, 2022

Anna Murray 

During the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, some journalist working at state-owned media resigned. Since Russia’s invasion, several media professionals have decided to leave their positions. Most of them condemned the conflict in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Marina Ovsyanniko, a producer of state-run Channel One, interrupted a broadcast of Russian nightly news with a sign. The slogan on the poster was "No War." She also said that they are lying to you.

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed his gratitude for bringing up the subject of Russian propaganda being used to spread distortion messages to the public. President Zelensky specially highlighted any journalist would face sanctions of justifying war crimes from an international court. 

After this anti-war protest on TV, a serious of resignations happened. Zhanna Agalakova, Ms. Ovsyanniko’s co-worker, quit her job as European correspondent. Lilia Gildeyeva, a presenter for NTV channel, also resigned. Vadim Glusker, a journalist from NTV channel, left the company when Russia launched the invasion of Ukarine. Maria Baronova, former chief editor of RT, also known as Russia Today. Ms. Baronova left her job because she considered that President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, destroyed Russia’s reputations and economy. On the other hand, the independent media has been under the attack from the government of Russia for years. Journalists working at the independent media was under the continuous threat of losing their livelihoods.

The Russian Government would fine those who spread false messages about Ukraine invasion. Ms. Ovsyannikova was detained and fined 30,000 roubles before she was accused of planning an unapproved public event.