Marina Ovsyannikova: Russia charges journalist who protested Ukraine war live on TV

A Russian journalist who staged a TV protest about the war in Ukraine was charged on Wednesday with spreading false information about the Russian army, an offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The charges relate to a protest last month, when Marina Ovsyannikova held up an anti-war placard on the Moskva river embankment opposite the Kremlin and posted images of the protest on her Telegram channel.

Ovsyannikova, who was born in Ukraine, came to international prominence in March by walking out in front of studio cameras with an anti-war placard during a live evening news broadcast on Russia's flagship Channel One.

She has since been arrested and fined several times for her continued opposition to Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

She had announced earlier on Wednesday that federal investigators had forced their way into her house at 6 am to conduct a search before taking her away to charge her.

Speaking to journalists outside the investigators' office, the lawyer said Ovsyannikova was holding up well. He said the new law, which allows people to be detained for picketing, showed that Russia's judicial system was in "complete default."

According to Net Freedoms, a legal aid group focusing on free speech cases, as of Wednesday there were 79 criminal cases on charges of spreading false information about the military and up to 4,000 administrative cases on charges of disparaging the armed forces.