Marina stands up to propaganda

Russian TV tells people only what the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, wants people to hear. That's why it is not "news" but "propaganda". The TV has helped Mr Putin make Russians afraid of Ukraine and believe that Mr Putin is right to attack their neighbouring country.

Marina Ovsyannikova worked for Russian television. She knew Ukrainians weren’t a danger. She knew Ukraine. Her dad’s Ukrainian!  And in her job, she could watch TV from other countries where journalists were free to say that Mr Putin was lying about Ukraine. She also knew that lots of Russians didn’t want to fight Ukrainians. But they they were too afraid of Mr Putin to say so. When the war started a month ago, she felt she just had to do something to stop it.

You can see Marina's story this week in the WoW! News app.

She thought about protesting in the street. But she knew the police would stop her before anyone saw her. Thousands of Russians have been put in jail already for doing this. Marina saw a better way to break the spell of propaganda. She made a poster in her kitchen. Then she went to work as usual. Just as the TV newsreader on the evening bulletin was speaking live to the camera, Marina rushed in behind her and held up her poster.

Tens of millions of Russians suddenly saw Marina and her poster: “No war!” it read. “Stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here. Russians against the war.” Some of it she wrote in English, so the whole world would understand.

Marina was quickly arrested by the police. But, like in wrestling or judo, where you can trip a bigger opponent, Marina used the weight of Mr Putin’s TV to knock a hole in his propaganda. Her courage has given other Russians courage. She lost her job and may go to prison – but she showed them that if you believe something is wrong, you should speak up.

She also showed Ukrainians, and people around the world, that Russians are not their enemy.