Anti-war protester in studio disrupts live Russian state TV news
- Woman seen shouting, holding anti-war sign for several seconds
- Opposition tweet of incident draws millions of views
- Pro-Kremlin channel is main source of news for many Russians
An anti-war protester interrupted a live news bulletin on Russia's state TV Channel One on Monday, holding up a sign behind the studio presenter and shouting slogans denouncing the war in Ukraine.
The sign, in English and Russian, read: "NO WAR. Stop the war. Don't believe propaganda. They are lying to you here." Another phrase, which looked like "Russians against war", was partly obscured.
The extraordinary act of dissent took place on day 19 of the war which began when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasionof Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what he called a special military operation
"Stop the war. No to war," the woman protester could be heard shouting, as the news anchor continued to read from her teleprompter.
The protester could be seen and heard for several seconds before the channel switched to a different report to remove her from the screen.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the protester in his nightly video address:
"I am grateful to those Russians who do not stop trying to convey the truth. To those who fight disinformation and tell the truth, real facts to their friends and loved ones," Zelenskiy said. "And personally to the woman who entered the studio of Channel One with a poster against the war."
Kira Yarmysh, spokeswoman for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, wrote on Twitter: "Wow, that girl is cool."
She posted a video of the incident, which quickly racked up more than 2.6 million views.
