France proposes “consular protection” to Russian journalist who protested against the war

France is ready to offer “consular protection” to the Russian journalist who protested live against the war in Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday, asking Russia to clarify its situation.

“We are going to take steps to offer him protection, at the embassy or asylum,” Macron told the press, assuring that he will propose it to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during his next telephone conversation.

A woman broke into the live news on Monday with a banner criticizing the Russian military offensive in Ukraine, a very unusual scene in a country where information is controlled.

According to the Onegé for the Defence of the Rights of Protesters OVD-Info, the woman is Marina Ovsiannikova, an employee of the network. The organization claims that she was arrested and taken to the police station.

While the news presenter Ekaterina Andreieva spoke, Ovsiannikova came up from behind with a banner reading “No to war. Propaganda is not created. Here they are lying to them.”

According to the Tass press agency, the young woman could be tried for having “discredited the use of the Russian armed forces”. Her lawyer said Tuesday that she could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

In a video previously recorded and published by OVD-Info, Ovsiannikova explains that, being her Ukrainian father and her Russian mother, she fails to see both countries as enemies.

The French president has been trying to mediate for weeks between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymir Zelensky. First to avoid conflict and now to bring an end to this war.

Less than a month before the presidential election in France, Macron said Tuesday that he does not rule out traveling to Moscow or Kiev, but that there were no “conditions” to make these trips “in the next few days”.

jri-leb/tjc/bl