“Since our state refuses to comply with its own laws, I refuse to comply with the restrictive measure imposed on me in the form of house arrest and I am released from it on September 30, 2022,” Ovsyannikova posted on Telegram from an unknown location on Wednesday. “Honorable employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service, put such a bracelet on Putin,” she said in a video, referring to the electronic monitoring device she was forced to wear on her ankle by Russian officials. “He is the one who should be isolated from society, not me, and should be tried for the genocide of the people of Ukraine and for the fact that he is mass destroying the male population of Russia.” Ovsyannikova, a former editor at Russian state television Channel 1, made international headlines earlier this year after she walked onto the set of the channel’s flagship news program holding a placard reading “stop the war”. Her protest was widely hailed as a dangerous act of resistance as Russia moved to crack down on critics and public displays of dissent amid its invasion of Ukraine. The Russian journalist who protested the war in Ukraine avoided house arrest On Wednesday, Ovsyannikova once again urged Russians not to believe government lies, saying she had been targeted for simply telling the truth. After Russia invaded in February, media access was quickly blocked and Moscow banned what it deemed “fake” news about its attack on Ukraine. Russia’s media crackdown has forced many journalists to flee the country. Russia has fined Ovsyannikova twice for the offense of discrediting its military and in August placed her under two months’ house arrest on charges of spreading false news about the military, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. It remains unclear how she managed to escape, along with her 11-year-old daughter. Ovsyannikova did not return calls and text messages from The Washington Post in recent days. Ovsyannikova’s ex-husband initially reported her missing to authorities on Saturday, Russian media reported. Igor Ovsyannikov told the pro-Kremlin RT network that he did not know where his ex-wife was, but that his daughter did not have a passport. Ovsyannikova’s remarks came as Putin signed a document formalizing the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, a violation of international law. Despite the move, Ukrainian troops are making a “rapid and powerful advance” in the country’s south and liberating “dozens of settlements” from Russian control, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The last: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees on Friday to annex four occupied regions of Ukraine, following organized referendums widely denounced as illegal. Follow our live updates here. The answer: The Biden administration on Friday announced a new round of sanctions on Russia in response to the annexations, targeting government officials and family members, Russian and Belarusian military officials and defense procurement networks. President Volodymyr Zelensky also said on Friday that Ukraine is applying for “fast-track accession” to NATO, in an apparent response to the annexations. In Russia: Putin declared a military mobilization on September 21 to call up up to 300,000 reservists in a dramatic bid to reverse setbacks in his war against Ukraine. The announcement led to an exodus of more than 180,000 people, mostly servicemen, and renewed protests and other acts of defiance against the war. The battle: Ukraine mounted a successful counteroffensive that forced a large Russian retreat in the northeastern Kharkiv region in early September, as troops abandoned towns and villages they had seized since the early days of the war and abandoned large quantities of military equipment. Photos: Washington Post photographers have been on the ground since the start of the war — here are some of their strongest works. How you can help: Here are ways those in the US can support the Ukrainian people, as well as what people around the world are donating. Read his full coverage Russia-Ukraine war. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video.
