On 14 March 2022, nearly three weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Marina Ovsyannikova made a short anti-war stunt during news broadcast on the main Russian state Channel One. While it was widely expected that she would be handed a 15-year sentence by the Russian regime, she only paid a minor fine. This action by Ovsyannikova was met in the West with unsubstantiated adoration. Yesterday, 11 April, a major German media outlet Die Welt offered Ovsyannikova a position as an expert on Russia and, inexplicably, Ukraine.

We strongly condemn this decision and call for this appointment to be cancelled for the following reasons:

1. For many years Ovsyannikova worked as a senior media manager of the Russian state TV. Both prior and after the Russian military aggression against Ukraine started in 2014, Ovsyannikova was actively involved in the campaign of hate directed at Ukraine and Ukrainians. For instance, she was involved in manufacturing of the infamous fake news about ‘the Russian boy crucified in Slovyansk by Ukrainian nationalists’.

2. She admits her active role in the daily Russian propaganda which incited hatred towards Ukrainians and, ultimately, paved the way to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. However, this background did not made her to abandon the work in the media. To the contrary, she is now actively seeking to influence media in the West even though it is clear that she has no record of either pro-democracy activism or balanced journalism. It is ridiculous, indeed offensive, to expect from her any balanced input on Russia and, especially, Ukraine.

3. After her TV stunt, her first media appearances were dedicated to minimising the culpability of Russian society for the illegal war against Ukraine. Given leniency shown towards her by the Putin regime (which was in stark contrast to how it treats other genuine anti-war activists in Russia) there is a strong suspicion that her actions then and now are part of the well-orchestrated Kremlin campaign of deflection and influencing public opinion in the West.

Considering all of the above, we call to revoke Ovsyannikova’s appointment at Die Welt to be cancelled and that no other Kremlin propagandists are given any voice or jobs in Western media.