“Respected employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service, put that bracelet on Putin,” she said in a video, referring to the electronic tracking device Russian officials forced her to wear on her ankle. “It is he who should be isolated from society, not me, and he should be tried for the genocide of the people of Ukraine and for the fact that he destroys the male population of Russia en masse.”
Ovsyannikova, a former editor of Russian state television Channel 1, made international headlines earlier this year after storming the set of the channel’s flagship news program with a sign reading “stop the war”. Her protest was widely hailed as a dangerous act of resistance as Russia cracked down on critics and public displays of dissent amid its invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Ovsyannikova once again urged Russians not to believe the government’s lies, saying she had been targeted simply for telling the truth. After Russia’s invasion in February, media access was quickly blocked and Moscow banned what it deemed “fake” news about her attack on Ukraine. From Russia media crackdown has forced many journalists to flee the country.
Russia fined Ovsyannikova twice for the crime of discrediting its military and in August placed her under two-month house arrest on charges of spreading false news about the military, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years.
It is unclear how she managed to escape, along with her 11-year-old daughter. Ovsyannikova did not respond to calls and text messages from The Washington Post in recent days.
Ovsyannikova’s ex-husband first reported to authorities on Saturday that she was missing, Russian media reported. Igor Ovsyannikov told the pro-Kremlin RT network that he did not know where his ex-wife was, but his daughter did not have a passport.
Ovsyannikova’s comments came as Putin signed a document formalize the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, a violation of international law. Despite the move, Ukrainian troops are making a “swift and mighty advance” in the south of the country and liberating “dozens of settlements” from Russian control. President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.