“Run, save your life,” the lawyer himself advised. And Marina Ovsyannikova did just that. On the night of October 1, a week before she began to face trial for criticizing the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian journalist – who achieved worldwide fame by appearing on a live broadcast of Russian state television holding a sign reading ” No to Guerra” – took his daughter and fled to the border.
“I fear for my life,” Ovsyannikova admitted this Friday in Paris, where she found refuge, as she recounted the odyssey that was her escape from Moscow with the help of the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The journalist, who wore an electronic bracelet and would be under house arrest, says it was fear that drove her to leave the country. Threatened with ten years in prison, accused of spreading false information about the Russian armed forces, the lawyer’s warning left little room for hope for Russian justice.
Marina left Moscow at the beginning of the first weekend in October, at a time when she thought the police would be less active, and changed cars seven times before crossing the border on foot.
“Our last vehicle got stuck in the mud and we had no mobile network – we were trying to find our way through the stars. It was a very dangerous and stressful escape,” he revealed at a press conference in Paris, quoted by the BBC .
In her report, the journalist gave no details about what line she crossed or any other information that could endanger those who helped her.
He did say he was so nervous that he forgot to take off the electronic bracelet, only losing it again on the second vehicle change during the escape.
RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire, who was also present at the conference, said the escape was reminiscent of the Berlin Wall escapes during the Cold War and stressed that the journalist’s escape was not organized by a Western Secret Service.
“The day after she appeared on TV with that sign, I wrote my first text to Marina.” “I sent a message asking, do you need help? We’re here to help.”
Last September, Ovsyannikova then sent a message to RSF through an intermediary requesting assistance in leaving Russia. “We said okay,” Deloire explained. “[Mas] she was under house arrest in Moscow, her neighbors and family are Putinists, they could report her to the police, and she had an electronic bracelet. So there were many reasons why it was incredibly difficult to escape. But luckily it worked out.”
After the live broadcast of the poster last March, Ovsyannikova left Russia for the first time to work for the German newspaper Die Welt. In July she returned to Moscow, where she continued to oppose the war and was arrested.
Now based in Paris, the 44-year-old says she still “fears for her life” but believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is risking his leadership in the war in Ukraine. And he argues that the international community should increase military aid to Kiev, as a peace based on territorial conquest for Russia would only legitimize Putin’s expansionist plans and power.
Source: DN
